When Light Descends to Madness
by The Ansem Man
Summary: Negi learns how love drove one Konoka Konoe into insanity, and its tragic and not wholly logical conclusion. Touhou crossover. Co-authored by Eternal Longing.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

(Disclaimer: Neither Eternal Longing nor I bear ownership of anything appearing in this story other than the plot. This is written for fun and not profit.)

Birds sang cheerfully and loudly making them the only noise that pierced the calm silence over Mahora as class was in session. The sun shone brightly, the sky was a terribly beautiful azure, and the weather felt perfect. It was one of those rare days where everything is calm, but even that could not shake the terrible dread Konoka felt when Takamichi informed her that her grandfather had extremely urgent and grave news.

Even beautiful days have their tragedies.

Setsuna rose from her seat to accompany Konoka, but Takamichi raised a hand to stop her. "Setsuna-kun, please wait here," he told the loyal guardian, nodding to Negi before he led Konoka away.

Konoka's panic reached Setsuna almost the moment she had left the room, but the swordsman could do nothing but watch as her best friend was led away - Takamichi had expressly told her to wait. Yet when was she, Setsuna Sakurazaki, guardian and protector of Princess Konoka Konoe, left out of the important conversations? There had to be something wrong, after all.

Even beautiful days have their tragedies.

"Setsuna-san, please read the next passage," Negi's calm voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, right."

* * *

"What does grandfather need to tell me, Takamichi-sensei?" Konoka asked as the two walked side by side within one of Mahora's numerous grand hallways. "Am I in danger or something like that?" To herself, she added, But if I was in trouble, wouldn't it have been better if Set-chan had come as well?

"Konoka-kun," a gentle voice intruded upon her thoughts. Konoka looked up at Takamichi as he told her, "We're here." And true enough, the simple double doors to the Dean's office stood before her, for once not in the least welcoming. Takamichi nodded to her; she opened them. The knobs were cold, as metal should, but there was also an indescribable quality to it. Malicious - yes, malicious was the feeling that crept up Konoka's hand at the mere touch. The feeling became much worse the moment she stepped within the large room. Soon, it became oppressive, forcing Konoka to take shallow breaths.

It was chilly and the visage before her was grim. Her grandfather's usually cheerful smile was gone, replaced by a frown that she refused to look at for more than a second. The usually spacious office now felt close, tight, and constrictive though each step seemed to take up less than a hundredth of the distance between her feet and the desk where Dean Konoe's head was bowed - though in actuality, it only took ten steps to reach the middle of the room. Each step felt like an eternity, an eternity that Konoka wished she could use running away, far from this frowning weary old man whom she could not believe was her own flesh and blood.

"Konoka," the Dean's voice snapped Konoka out of her trance-like, unblinking gaze, freeing her from the numbing thoughts that had plagued her mind. The old man managed a smile which seemed to brighten the room. At the sight, Konoka smiled return. There could be nothing wrong if her grandfather could smile, right? But... the Dean's greeting had carried no warmth and the smile was dead and cold. Konoka felt her smile slipping as she realized he had called her by her first name only, without the usual honorifics. "This might come as a shock to you," the Dean started slowly. Konoka took a step backward. There was nothing she could grab for the support she knew she would need, so she took another step back. "Your father..."

"No," Konoka whispered.

"Unfortunately, Eishun Konoe has..."

"No!" Konoka shouted. She spun around, racing towards the doors and freedom, but she had not taken more than two steps before the door was blocked by no other than Takamichi. "Set-chan, where are you?"

"Konoka-kun, you must hear this. There is no use in denying the truth."

"No..." Konoka sank to your knees. She half turned, pleading with her grandfather with her eyes.

"Konoka," the Dean hesitated as tears spilled from his eyes. "Eishun, your father, has passed away."

* * *

Setsuna felt the shock and grief slam into her through the ethereal bond that connected her to Konoka, a bond formed of love, trust, and friendship.

"Setsuna-san!" Negi exclaimed when the girl suddenly leapt from her seat and raced out of the room. Negi's eyes widened when he realized that, in her haste, she had left behind her ever-present sword.

* * *

"Grandfather... you can't be serious!" Konoka sobbed.

"I'm sorry Konoka, it is the truth."

"Takahata-sensei!"

Takamichi shook his head.

"Father..." Konoka cried softly, tears running down her face, her uniform soaking up the moisture like a sponge. "How... how did he... die?" Konoka choked out a moment later.

"It is still under investigation," Takamichi told her, once again gently as if he was afraid any loud noise would break her, but Konoka was strong and her mind was already working frantically.

"Under investigation..." Konoka repeated, glaring up at the teacher. "By under investigation, do you mean that my father did not die by natural means? He was murdered?!"

For once, the calm and collected Takamichi hesitated, glancing over at his superior before replying. "It... hasn't been confirmed; the investigators aren't sure. It could have been an accident," he told her though it sounded like he didn't believe his own words.

"There's no way it could have been an accident," Konoka hissed. "Not Eishun Konoe, the head of the Kansai Magic Association!"

"This debate is getting nowhere," the Dean suddenly interrupted, harshly. "Konoka, what are you going to do from now on? What have you planned for the future, your future?"

Konoka twisted back to face her grandfather, eyes wide at this side of him she had never seen before. "What do you mean?" she stammered out.

"With your father gone, there will be a fight for the seat of power. You are too young to be the next leader of the Kansai Magic Association - you would lose for sure as a candidate. The one problem with your father and I is that we have no inheritance to leave you if our positions are taken. That means that you will be left with nothing in the event that I die."

The Dean took a calming breath. "I do not want to see you hurt or living a life you don't deserve, Konoka. To that extent, I have arranged a protector for my only grandchild."

"A protector..." Konoka gasped. "You don't mean...?"

"Yes, Konoka," the Dean spoke softly but in a firm tone that would suffer no argument. "You will be married three days from now."

Silence filled the room. Konoka was stunned, and from the stifled gasp from behind her, she realized that Takamichi hadn't known about this sudden revelation either. "Wait, what?" a voice shattered the silence. For a second, Konoka covered her mouth in horror at the outburst, but she soon realized that she had not spoken a word.

She whirled around. "What did you say...?" Setsuna hissed from the doorway, anger radiating from her posture, eyes, and clenched fists.

"This has nothing to do with you, loyal Setsuna of the Sakurazaki clan. Please leave us be while we mourn the death of our loved one."

"Death?" The word confused Setsuna such that her malicious aura diminished in size and intensity. "Eishun-sama?" she gasped in realization.

Takamichi put a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder as she struggled to deal with the news. "Let's go, Setsuna-kun. They need to deal with this alone." Takamichi urged her back with soft words and insistent pressure. It almost seemed like the girl would allow herself to be led away, but suddenly, Setsuna lashed out, pushing Takamichi away and dashing forward to slam her hands down in front of the dean, denting the wooden desk.

"And what does marrying Kono-chan away have to do with Eishun-sama's death?"

"Set-chan..." Konoka murmured, amazed at the outburst.

"Where's your composure, Setsuna, and your respect?" the Dean snapped. "Do you dare disrespect my granddaughter's name in front of me? I thought you were her guardian; when have you become so loose with your tongue?"

Setsuna hissed, "When it comes to Konoka Konoe, I will do anything to make sure she gets what she deserves."

"And what do you deserve, Setsuna? Be gone from my sight. As of this day, you are no longer the protector of my granddaughter. Her husband will be apt enough after he takes the seat as leader of the Kansai Magic Association."

Setsuna stood silent in shock. She had been Konoka's protector for most of her childhood. Her earliest memories were of guarding the young girl from enemies that the carefree child had never realized were there.

"Grandfather!" Konoka shook her head. "Don't do this!"

"Nothing you say will change my mind, Konoka," the Dean growled. "This course of action had been decided before Setsuna ever opened her mouth." Turning to the horror-stricken girl, he added, "You just made it easier on me."

Setsuna stared unseeingly out the window. Her life had ended with those words.

"I understand."

"What, Kono-chan?" Setsuna whirled around to face her last and only lifeline.

"I understand, Grandfather. You have left me no choice. Let me say goodbye to Set-chan, no… Setsuna Sakurazaki before she leaves."

The Dean seemed to deflate then and there. Fresh tears sprung from his eyes as he nodded calmly. "Go ahead. Engrave these last moments in your memories for it might be your last..."

Konoka nodded, gestured for Setsuna to follow, and bowed out. Behind her, the Dean sighed, "And remember Konoka-chan, I will always love you no matter what happens..."

* * *

"Ojou-sama!" Setsuna called out her name desperately, running towards her charge.

"Don't call me that, Set-chan," Konoka turned around, admonishing Setsuna. "I'm not your master anymore. I never was."

"Fine then... K-K-Kono-chan, did you really mean what you said back there?"

"Yes, every word." Konoka faced away from her.

"Then you mean to say goodbye?" Setsuna's voice began to waver. Was Konoka seriously leaving her for good? She couldn't—

"Yes, I do, Setsuna Sakurazaki, but not to you."

"What do you mean?" The building sadness in Setsuna's heart turned into surprise and confusion.

"We're leaving, together." Konoka faced her again, this time her face was serious and determined, a side Setsuna rarely saw from the girl.

"Leaving? Leaving for where? Even if we did leave, the magic world wouldn't let us go so easily, especially with your magic potential!" Setsuna immediately warned.

"It doesn't matter." Konoka answered briskly. She had truly made up her mind about this. " There's no point in staying if I'm just going to be married to some random person I've never even met. There's no meaning to life if can't make my own decisions; there's no point in living without you."

"Ojou-sama…" Setsuna trailed off. Even though Konoka always said it, it was still a shock that the girl thought so highly of her.

"It's Kono-chan, Set-chan." Konoka corrected almost by default.

"What about your grandfather? Won't you miss him?" Setsuna asked.

"Of course I will, but it is too late for regrets. This idea is his after all."

"But he—"

"Acted perfectly for Takahata-sensei to act as witness." Konoka was well aware of her grandfather's roundabout ways of saving her. Those words to Setsuna were in fact the icing on the cake—to deceive your enemies, you had to deceive your friends first after all...

"Then…" Setsuna didn't know what to do at this point.

"Let's go, Set-chan." Konoka took her friend's hand. "I'll miss everyone—our classmates, Asuna, Negi-sensei... but we have to leave. This day's coming was predestined."

Even beautiful days have their tragedies, and that was the last anyone had seen Konoka Konoe and Setsuna Sakurazaki.

* * *

It was a busy day as usual for the newspaper business. One of the main reasons, it seemed, was that they were sorely lacking an old pair of helping hands.

"It's a shame to see that that Asuna girl's not working with us anymore," one man sighed. The balding middle-aged man added, "She was such a great help, too."

"Time flies, you know," the other worker, his wife, told him wryly. "Kids grow up. Their schedules change, ambitions in life change... my, and to think it's been three years since she last worked for us! Oh, how time flies."

"Indeed. Speaking of which, today's news is announcing the details of the memorial for the old dean from Mahora, right?"

"Yeah... that man was a legend amongst legends in Mahora. Even a couple of years after his death and he's still pulling so many supporters. Are you going?"

"Most likely. The man needs my respect too, and if Asuna's there, it would be nice to catch up."

* * *

Even with the Dean's memorial, the magic associations were already having a joint meeting—it was one of the few times the Kanto and Kansai Magic Associations even met, let alone worked together.

The pair of guards outside could hear the bickering even from outside the door. Figuring that, though this couldn't possibly end well, they had no say in what went on behind those walls, they decided to ignore it and continue their watch. Time ticked away and it was a good while before something out of the usual occurred.

Footsteps faint but noticeable echoed within the dim, empty corridor leading to their post. Immediately at attention, the two guards placed hands on their weapons—guns and wands. A few moments later, they could finally see the source of the footsteps. To their surprise, out of the shadows stepped a girl. Walking towards them was a slender girl, her black hair parted to one side. She wore what looked like traditional samurai garb except that it had a pale blue tassel hanging strangely over her shoulder—strange for their day and age—and a serious expression that dared them to challenge her. Nonetheless, it was their job to just that.

One of the guards gave her a warm smile and said, "Hey, excuse me, you can't go in there—"

Without stopping, the girl pulled the aforementioned tassel with an easy tug. Her robes split along the black as she continued to walk forward. A second later, a pair of wings unfurled from her back. The two guards could only gape in shock as she walked past them, wings slamming them against the wall, knocking both out as she opened the door.

The mages inside were in the middle of a heated debate, but the sudden entry of the girl halted them in their motions, silencing their mouths. The temperature in the room dropped as she sheathed her wings, stepped inside, and stood there, staring coldly at them for a moment before reaching behind her back. As she brought a wrapped bundle to the light, a few of the mages finally recognized her.

"Setsuna Sakurazaki!"

"Where did you come from?"

"What are you doing here?"

Setsuna answered with nothing, only taunting them with her cold stare. Of course, she was not obliged to answer them.

A fist slammed into the oval-shaped table that took up most of the room. "YOU HERETIC, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO KONOKA?" one of the men yelled, furious at being ignored.

"Nothing..." A cheerful voice replied as another girl walked in from behind Setsuna. "But you fools on the other hand..."

"Konoka Konoe!"

"…shall come face to face with justice," Setsuna finished, speaking for the first time.

Several of the mages got up, starting incantations, but a hail of magical projectiles launched out of thin air and blasted into their magical barriers, shattering their guards with the sheer force of the impact. A second wave of magic knocked away their staffs and wands , rendering them powerless. Konoka let the hand she had raised drop, Setsuna following suit as the mages looked around bewildered at what had happened in a matter of seconds. The two had not spoken a word.

"Don't bother moving," Konoka told them. "I'm not finished yet."

Even as she said this, some of them opted to flee. Setsuna put a sudden stop to those plans, drawing her blade from the wrapped bundle she still held. Konoka grinned as the stray mages were kicked back into their seats. In a cheerful voice, she chanted: **"The end is near, but suffer whilst you wait; a prison of revolving blades: Feather Bind!" **At once, rows of daggers surrounded the necks of every mage in the room. All efforts to escape stopped then and there, as silence once again overtook the room. The tension was so thick that several of the men and women could only draw in short, ragged breaths.

Setsuna sheathed her blade, smirking, "I recommend you stay as still as you can listen carefully to what Ojou-sama has to say."

"Ojou-sama?" one of the mages spat. "I recognize no girl in this room that deserves the title of royalty."

"Oh?" Konoka grinned. "Did you forget so quickly that I am descended of the Konoe clan? Actually… a better question would be... did you forget so quickly about the people you killed?"

"Ha, they deserved to die for allowing demonkind to live with—" he started, but a sickening ripping sound interrupted him as the revolving blades around his head instantly decapitated him. "Oops, lost control," Konoka giggled, balancing one of the bloodied blades on her fingertip.

"She's insane!" someone declared in horror.

"Oh, I'm quite sane," Konoka smiled charmingly. "But too bad for you, I'm not in a very 'sane' mood."

"What is the meaning of this?" another brave soul ventured to demand. His reward was a sharp stinging sensation at his neck where one of the daggers keeping him trapped had dug deeply into his skin.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Setsuna cautioned as the man's hand reflexively lifted to touch the wound.

"Try again," Konoka told him.

"What?" The man received another cut.

"Try again, and this time, mind your attitude."

The man gritted his teeth before he asked, "What are you planning to do to us, and why are you doing this?" His tone was quite submissive this time around.

"Better," Konoka smiled as blood poured onto the ground. She twirled around as she left the fallen mage's corpse and answered the last question he would ever ask. "That's an easy one to answer. I'm here to play the judge and to put an end to this little game of power and corruption." The other mages stared in horror at the sight of the rolling head. "North American Overseer, suspected of illegal magical cloning attempts and illicit interaction with his creations. Proved to be exceedingly loose with the law and was arrested on several accounts for involuntary manslaughter during botched experiments." This was met with murmurs of disbelief, but Konoka paid that no mind.

With her ever-present smile, Konoka turned towards another of her prisoners. "Charged with three attempts to break into the Homeland's vault of artifacts, I'd say you're the next one on my agenda, aren't you?" Konoka asked the mage sitting closest to her right.

The man denied, "I wasn't trying to break in! I had a pass..."

"A pass that had expired 3 years ago. Next!" She smiled again as another head dropped to the floor. There were only four other mages remaining.

"Bribery, corruption, and planned assassinations, Ms. Secretary," Konoka honed in on her next target, sitting to her left at the far end of the table. "An untold number of innocent people were destroyed by your selfish desires... Did you do that for yourself or for your two husbands who know nothing about the other except that they are part of the same organization?"

"Please, stop this, Konoka Ojou-sama," the man to the Secretary's right pleaded. Konoka shifted her gaze to the man directly across from her.

"Pray do tell me, Mr. Chairman of the Kansai Magic Association, successor to my dear father, why I shouldn't just chop off her pretty little head?"

"This isn't like you," the Kansai Chairman smiled weakly. "Or like Sakurazaki-san."

"Oh really?" Konoka mused and unleashed a single magical bullet. The sphere of magic burned a circle into the man's chest, but the man took it with only a grimace. "No scream..." Konoka frowned. "That's not very fun."

The Chairman was hardier than that. Despite the pain, his voice only reflected minor discomfort. "Leave these girls, demon," the Chairman pleaded.

"Oh ho? You believe us to be possessed?" Setsuna, who had been watching from the background, rounded on the Chairman. "We are under our own control. To say that we are influenced is entirely absurd..."

"Little girls murdering their superiors is what being under control means these days?" one of the remaining mages spoke haughtily and almost hysterically.

"At least, I am not a brainless wife, unlike you, who allowed your husband to 'influence' several young women into being his own personal concubines. Without a word from you, I might add."

"Not that you are married," Konoka added with glee.

"As Ojou-sama says."

The female mage stuttered. "I... I... I..."

"Get her a dictionary," Konoka sighed and waved an arm. From the table rose a binder that, presumably, contained the topic that had been discussed. Konoka motioned it forward like she would a dog and the book slammed into the woman's face, pushing her back into the blades that still revolved around her neck.

"She's going to kill us all!" the secretary wailed.

"Precisely the point I was trying to make," Konoka agreed. "But to tell you the truth, I'm getting quite bored with this. Let me just convict you of your wrongdoings and end this already." She scanned the room of the remaining mages that were alive. "Hmmm... actually, two of you are missing..." Konoka sighed. "Where's the Australian overseer and your so-called Treasurer?"

"If I tell you, will you spare their lives?" answered the only man who had not yet spoken. His seat sat directly opposite of the Kansai Chairman. Konoka found herself staring at him incredulously: the Kantou Chairman... her grandfather's replacement. But though he lacked the fear of his comrades, his steady eyes also lacked any dangerous defiance. Konoka regarded him with interest.

"I'll think about it," Konoka answered smoothly. "In the meantime, why don't you relinquish that Kantou title to me?"

The man sighed. "How can I trust that you'll keep your word? How can I trust that you won't abuse your power?"

"You can't – trust is not that easily earned – but I don't see how you have choice in the matter," Konoka smiled sardonically.

"And will you kill me if I refuse to hand over my title?"

"Do you deserve death?"

"No one deserves death by your hands, Konoka Ojou-sama," the man replied. "You are not the one who has the power to judge—you are not God." His words had a tone of deference that was almost convincing. Almost, but not quite, and that fact irritated her.

"Who said I was God? I just came back to end the strife brought on by years of political corruption, and claim my rightful place... You can see that, right?"

"By ending lives?" Even with his question, the Kantou Chairman completely understood the reasons behind her line of thought. Those words simply affirmed what he had believed for three years—Konoka would return. The betrayed girl would return with a vengeance.

Konoka shook her head disdainfully at the question, but her reply didn't quite match her dismissal. "Lives that would end countless others if they were to continue... I won't stand for that anymore," she whispered. The knives around the Kantou Chairman closed in, just slightly enough for his calmness to falter. "You seem to be pragmatic and I don't have any grudges against you. Why don't you just give it up?"

He bowed his head and nodded quietly, but even as he did so, he spoke: "Once again, I ask you to spare the lives of the others. If you do so, I will do anything you ask."

Keeping her irritation in check, Konoka smiled gently. "I knew you would see things my way." She turned to the Kansai Chairman. "You heard this man. Sign those papers and you don't get hurt."

With the wave of a finger, a sheet of paper formed from apparently nothing. It landed smoothly on the table in between the two men without a wrinkle.

"How do we sign?" the Kansai Chairman inquired.

Konoka giggled, sending a shiver up the man's spine. "With your blood of course."

Another wave of the finger sent the man into tears, but instead of meeting death, he found his forefinger bleeding from a painless cut.

"Go ahead."

The Kantou chairman signed with a defeated calmness; the Kansai chairman scrambled out his signature. His life depended on it.

"I am now the ruler of both organizations... See, now there's no more bickering," She laughed softly with a pained expression that, almost as if she were about to cry. "Now I can put an end to all this selfishness..."

"Ojou-sama." Setsuna was at her side in seconds.

"Take them to my throne room," Konoka grinned. "Please."

"Understood," Setsuna murmured, and with that, Setsuna disappeared with a hand on each of the former chairmen, leaving almost no trace that she had ever been there in the first place.

Konoka walked through and over the pools of red liquid, shoes not quite touching the surface of the drying substance. She walked around the table and picked up the blood soaked binder she had thrown earlier, opened it with a snap, and smiled sadly as she read its contents...

**When Light Descends to Madness**

(Ansem: So we start with a bang, huh? Eternal Longing and I begin our semi-dark and all moody exploration of what happens when even the kindest of creatures loses it.

Eternal Longing: This is not a KonoSetsu story. I wash my hands of this madness. If there are any KonoSetsu elements, Ansem will answer your questions. Once again, I wash my hands of this madness.

Ansem: It'd probably be more accurate to say that this is a _deconstruction_ of sorts. Still, not a true KonoSetsu story guys, sorry. Reviews welcomed, constructive criticism requested, flames will be used for marshmallows, and ridiculous suggestions shall be tossed into COMPLETE DARKNESS... and that's putting it _nicely_.)


	2. Chapter 1

**When Light Descends to Madness**

**Chapter 1**

"Three years ago, a man who worked harder than any other one of us combined left this world for another place, a better place. The doctors said he died of heart failure due to stress, but that is not true. Konoe Konoemon did not die of a simple heart attack. No, he died of love for his family: every single one of us standing here today. He died of the love he felt for the world. The former Dean of Mahora left us with a smile and a last message: live in the light."

The gathering was solemnly quiet as the lone standing man gave a riveting eulogy. Negi Springfield grimaced. Why did they have to send him of all people? Negi gave the man a baleful stare as the speech came to a climax. When it was apparent the man was too caught up in his acting, Negi lowered his gaze and sighed. These people who care nothing for the Dean or Mahora, why are they here? Negi thought. He glanced back up. The representative of the Kansai Magic Association was still talking.

"Negi-kun," a voice whispered in his ear, making him jump.

"Takamichi!" he exclaimed, earning him a few angry hisses disapproving frowns. The man was still talking.

Once away from the crowd, Negi confronted Takamichi with a scowl. "You almost made me unleash my magic on you, Takamichi! Can't you do anything without sneaking up on someone, scaring them half to death?"

Takamichi grinned. "With that scowl, that face, you look so much like your father, Negi-kun."

The compliment abated Negi's anger somewhat. Almost sheepishly, Negi grinned. A moment later, he was frowning again. "What's so urgent that you have to interrupt the memorial... not that I enjoyed listening to that man prattle nonsense about a hero. He's never even met him in his life."

Takamichi smiled to show he agreed before his expression turned serious and stone-like.

"This may come as a shock to you," Takamichi started before trailing off. Those words reminded him of a time three years ago when he had said that to another person much like Negi, though for completely different reasons.

"Takamichi?" Negi questioned.

The man shook shook away his thoughts before starting again. "This may come as a shock to you, Negi-kun, but something big has happened. Something that I'm afraid has turned our world upside down."

"What... what's wrong?" Negi asked warily.

"The Kansai Magic Association and the Kanto Council of Mages have been... disbanded."

Negi gave him a look that plainly said he thought Takamichi was telling an elaborate joke. "Disbanded?"

"Eliminated might be a better word."

Negi looked Takamichi in the eye for a long moment before he sighed. He rubbed his eyes in irritation. "Eliminated by who?" Negi asked, knowing he wouldn't like the answer no matter what Takamichi said.

"One Konoka Konoe," Takamichi stated without inflection.

Negi's hand froze. "Konoka...san?"

"I'm afraid so."

"But _she left_! I thought she had transferred to another school where she could better deal with her grief!"

"That was a secret never meant to be uncovered," Takamichi looked down wearily. "There is a lot you don't know, Negi-kun, but I don't have the time to explain it all. I just came to tell you what happened; tomorrow, I'm leaving Mahora."

"What for?" Negi asked, mind spinning with all that was being unloaded on him.

"Business," Takamichi replied shortly before walking away without once looking back.

Negi stared at his back as the older man walked away and faded into the crowd. He continued to stare into distance long after Takamichi had left and the crowds had thinned.

"Konoka-san... a murderer? That can't be right."

* * *

The doors to the cage opened.

Negi sighed in relief as he took a step out of the crowded trains. Even this far from summer, the trains to Kyoto were overcrowded. Negi understood that many people worked in the old capital, but it was crazy that there were so many of them that it was a struggle to even breathe.

Now's not the time to whine, he mentally scolded himself. I have to find Konoka-san. I'm sure she'll explain this whole misunderstanding to me.

Earlier that day, a letter had arrived for the teacher. Child teacher no more, Negi had been given his own room and a mailbox for private and business use.

The letter had been simple and concise.

_Dear Springfield-sensei,_

_Come to Kyoto as soon as you receive this letter. Konoe Ojou-sama will be waiting for your presence._

_-Secretary to her Eminence,_

_Sakurazaki_

Negi walked towards an elderly man who sat idly behind a stand that sold fish. Even if the letter had told him to meet Konoka, he had no idea where she was, though he had a suspicion.

The crowds had thinned out by the time he reached the corner of the courtyard where the stand stood.

"Excuse me, sir, I would like to know where Konoe Konoka is residing."

The man looked at him with wide eyes. The fish seller backed away hurriedly from him.

"Wait!" Negi called after him with an outstretched arm.

Shaking his head frantically, the man turned tail and ran as if his life depended on getting away from Negi. Within moments, the man had disappeared into a fortress of bodies.

Negi sighed. Things had obviously changed from when he had last been to Kyoto.

At the thought, memories of his first field trip with the then, Class 3-A brought a small, sad smile to his lips. Things had been so much simpler then, back when life was life and they were all ignorantly unaware of the Dean's protective hand. That was three years ago and things had changed.

Negi shook his head slowly. He knew he that he shouldn't clutch the past like a child to his mother, but he remained standing still a second more, at peace with his thoughts. Then, he looked up. Determinedly, he turned his back on the fish stand and rejoined the crowds.

He would get his answers, but for now, he had to patient. Whether he would like them or not, that was another question. Only time would tell.

* * *

The streets of Kyoto had grown emptier and emptier as Negi walked through the streets. There were no children playing near their houses, no people taking strolls in the parks, no signs of life.

It was quiet, but not peaceful. Unrestricted, but empty.

Negi felt like he had entered a whole new world, and he was the only person in it.

"There he is!" someone shouted suddenly, breaking the illusion.

Negi looked up. In the distance, he could make up a group of four men, one of which he recognized as the fish seller.

"That's the man who used Konoe Ojou-sama's name disrespectfully!" the man shouted.

"Disrespectfully?" Negi repeated. "When did I do that?"

"Understood," one of the other men nodded. Negi could just make out his voice. "Thank you for your service to her Eminence."

Two of the men headed towards Negi as the third handed the fish seller a small pouch. Negi assumed it was money but he didn't dwell on the contents of the pouch as the men came closer. Either there was trouble or he misunderstood the frowns on the men's.

As they came closer, Negi was quite sure it wasn't the latter.

"State your name for the records, boy," one of the men commanded.

"Negi Springfield. I'm a teacher at-"

"I didn't ask for your dreams, boy, I asked you for your name and that is all!"

Carefully, Negi reined back his anger. It would do him no good to get angry.

Negi lowered his head, hoping that he looked suitably subdued. He took the lack of further comment as a good sign and took the lull in conversation to look over the men.

They looked like soldiers. That was the first thing he thought. The biggest hints were the swords hanging at their belts, unsheathed. He hadn't noticed them before, but he had been busy trying to figure out what was going on. They were fancy things, the kind Negi was sure were mainly for symbolism. Still, the way they flashed in the light gave Negi the impression that they wouldn't be useless in a fight.

"You're not very defiant for a teenager," a decidedly feminine voice interrupted his thoughts.

Negi raised his head and met a pair of eyes that were so familiar he could have sworn they were Setsuna's. The woman – who he realized he had mistaken for a man – looked over at her companions with a fiercely haughty expression. She was obviously the one in charge.

"So this is the right person?" she demanded.

"Uh, yes, captain. He matches the description: average height, wearing glasses, red hair tied into a ponytail," replied the man who had spoken earlier, handing his superior a clipboard. The other man said not a word. Instead, he stared at the sky as if watching for birds or as if checking the weather, but Negi was sure the man was watching him carefully.

Tuning the two's conversation into the background, Negi took a closer look at the woman who had so strongly reminded him of his former student. Now that he was free from her intent stare, he noticed that the woman's eyes were of a different color: they were a bright, unnatural yellow, almost golden. Her stance was almost the same as Setsuna's, but she stood straighter, and she was much older than Setsuna.

The familiarity radiating off of the woman distracted him, but Negi had too many questions for Konoka to be kept waiting. He had been delayed for long enough.

"Excuse me," Negi interrupted.

All three pair of eyes turned to stare impassively at him. Inwardly, Negi gulped.

"May I ask why I'm being held here?"

A moment of silence passed before the woman's gaze returned to the clipboard. The silent man turned away as well, once again staring at the sky. The only one left to respond, the final man, said, "You were accused of disrespecting her Eminence by using her full name. Only her closest confidantes have that privilege!"

Negi frowned. "Her Eminence? Do you mean Konoka-san by any chance?"

His use of Konoka's name once again turned all attention to him.

The woman sighed in consternation. Shaking her head, she preached, "All you newcomers to Kyoto have one thing in common: you ask too many questions. Be quiet and follow our rules. That's all we ask of you, and ignorance isn't an excuse."

Before Negi had a chance to respond, she added, "You are under arrest for misusing her Eminence's name. Resistance is futile."

At the words, the silent man sprang into action. With a sudden agility that startled Negi, the man's hand snaked for Negi's wrist, but Negi had been on guard from the very beginning.

Negi leaped back out of the way with a speed that surprised the three soldiers. It took a second for the trio to realize what had happened. In that second, Negi dropped into a combat stance.

"I'm not sure what you intend to do by arresting everyone who uses Konoka-san's name, but the Konoka-san I knew wouldn't stand for this. If you agree not to lay a hand on me, I will allow you to escort me to where Konoka-san is."

"Escort you?" the woman spluttered angrily. "Who are you, to be so arrogant to her Eminence's men?"

"Arrogant?" Negi blinked. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to –"

"Silence!"

With a roar of rage, the woman branded her sword. Her companions took the cue and did the same, circling around to cut off all routes of escape.

Three against one, Negi grimaced. Just my luck. If only I could use magic, but…

Further thought was made impossible when the two men rushed him.

Negi ducked under the swing of a sword, transitioning his movement into a roll that put him out of the reach of a second blade. The woman had not moved at all. She watched on the outskirts of the battle, blade at the ready, but otherwise a spectator.

Negi admired her ability to hold her calm even after she had found insult with Negi words, but he had more pressing matters to worry about. Negi sidestepped a clumsy rush by the man who had demanded his name. He would have taken the opportunity to strike at his back, but the man's companion distracted Negi long enough to bring the battle back to square one.

The silent one is better, Negi immediately noticed. I'll go for him first.

This time, Negi did not wait for another attack to respond. With a blur of motion that widened the eyes of all his opponents, he sank a fist into the soldier's stomach. Before the man could even call out in surprise however, Negi had already retracted his fist, spun around, and elbowed him in the middle of his back.

He fell slowly for Negi, who exhaled once and was halfway the distance to the other man before his victim had even hit the ground.

Negi's palm sent the man flying into the air. The soldier hit the ground hard and didn't get up.

Negi exhaled again, but stopped mid-breath as something hard and cold touched his neck.

"Don't… move…" a voice hissed.

Negi froze.

"That was pretty incredible what you did there, defeating my men in a matter of seconds, but I don't want to know how you did it. What I want is for you to know what will happen if you move even a muscle, do you understand?"

Negi didn't move or reply.

"Good, now relax, I won't hurt you. Slowly, we'll walk and you'll follow all my orders, do you understand? You may nod."

He nodded, and in that nod, an explosion filled the air.

Negi clutched his arm where the blade had drawn blood and grimaced. Then, he turned around to view the result of the explosion.

The woman lay on her back, completely winded from the hard landing that had ended her flight into the air. In between Negi and the woman smoked a hole from the explosion that had tossed the soldier like a plastic figurine.

"Mage…" she hissed. Her hand clutched her sword, but it had had completely snapped in half. She was no longer a threat.

Negi bowed low to her, and said, "I'm sorry for hurting you, but it had to be done. I must speak with Konoka-san, now even more urgently than before. She sent me an invitation that I must reply with my presence."

"Letter…?" the woman gasped out, struggling to get up.

"Yes, Miss Sakurazaki, a letter."

The woman started at that. "How do you know my family name?"

"How couldn't I? Your style, your bearing, both are so much like Setsuna-san that… Well, nevermind." Negi looked down. He didn't want her to see the pain in his eyes. He dearly, dearly missed his former students, his precious, precious students.

Suddenly, the woman flushed in what Negi hoped was not anger. He also hoped it was not embarrassment but the woman bowed quickly and dashed his hopes away by saying, "I'm sorry Springfield-sama, I should have recognized your name when you said it earlier. Please, forgive my actions and those of my subordinates."

She seemed so sincere – and embarrassed - that Negi felt that she would have ordered her subordinates to apologize as well if they weren't sprawled on the ground, unconscious.

"I accept your apology. I'm not sure what the circumstances are, but it seems that things have changed a lot in the few days Konoka-san has been back."

The woman nodded absentmindedly, a frown stuck on her face. Her worries were quickly revealed when she said, "I'd show you the way to the palace to make up for my discourtesy but..."

Negi understood at once. "Don't worry, I can find my own way. I'm pretty sure I remember my way to the Konoe estate if that is what you meant by palace?" When she nodded, he added, "And don't worry about your friends. I didn't hit them hard enough to break anything. They might be a little sore but..." he shrugged, "they'll be fine."

She nodded again and Negi noticed that she was a bit more relaxed than before.

On impulse, Negi said, "Oh, I forgot to ask you your name."

"Kinsha Sakurazaki, Springfield-sama."

Negi smiled and turned away. The Sakurazaki clan member bowed deeply to him as he left and didn't straighten until he had disappeared.

* * *

"Negi-sensei!" Setsuna's voice was one of surprise. Seeing her teacher after three years was still a jarring experience, despite the fact that his appearance was expected today. The two guards escorting Negi quickly saluted Setsuna before retreating back to their posts at the gate of the Konoe Estate.

"Setsuna-san?" Negi blinked. "Is that you?" In the three years since he had last seen her, he suspected not too much had changed. Boy, was that wrong. The half-demon that went out of her way to hide such an identity flaunted it now. Her stark white hair and feathered white wings shone strongly. "You look... so much stronger."

"I had to be." Setsuna simply stated.

Negi chuckled softly. "I'm glad to see that your personality hasn't changed too much."

Setsuna said nothing, though the edges of her lips turned the tiniest bit upward. Then, she looked away and seemed to listen for a second before turning back to Negi. "I believe ojou-sama is ready to have an audience with you."

She began to act the host and lead her guest towards their destination.

"Okay," Negi added, following her. However, glancing at her taller form once more, he felt something else had to be said. "Setsuna-san, I noticed you're not hiding your wings anymore. Or, well... _anything_." He motioned towards her white hair.

"Ojou-sama told me to stand proud." There was a touch of admiration in her voice.

"...and what about you, Setsuna-san?" Negi asked, wiser about their closeness. "What do you think?"

With confidence instead of hesitation, she answered, "I've always found it strange how ojou-sama goes out of her way for me, but I trust her decisions, no matter what."

She looked back at Negi with red eyes as if challenging him to doubt her (or Konoka's) words. If anything, Setsuna's loyalty to Konoka had grown tenfold. There was no way he'd get to the bottom of their actions through her.

Luckily, the crowning moment was here, as both finally reached the throne room. Negi stared in awe at the simple splendor of the place. There was merely the throne before him, no extensive jewelry was adorned here. Setsuna bowed deeply. "Ojou-sama, I leave Negi-sensei to you." She disappeared in a flash of feathers.

"Still calling him Negi-sensei eh, Set-chan?" Konoka's voice rang out. "I guess old habits die hard, don't they?" Negi looked up to see Konoka staring down at him. For someone of important status, she was not extravagantly dressed, going for a simple Kansai robe as opposed to a more grandiose one. Even so, Negi stood in awe at her presence. She held herself with dignity and an aura of power.

"Long time, no see, Negi-kun."

Negi noticed that Konoka greeted him cordially despite her relaxed language.

"Konoka-san!" Negi smiled, though it came out with more pain than he had expected. "It's been three years."

"How time flies, right?" Konoka laughed. If Negi tried, he could easily trace that laugh to the Konoka he knew three years ago. But... "Was your trip here okay?"

"Complications arose..." Negi sighed. Getting assaulted by fanatical henchmen wasn't fun. However time spent complaining could easily go to time spent getting to the bottom of this, so with a deep breath, Negi got straight to the point. "Is it true? That you wiped out half of the Kantou and Kansai Magic Associations to obtain your current seat?"

"How's the Library Trio doing?"

"Eh?" This caught the boy off guard. Where did she come up with that? "Well... they're doing fine, I suppose..."

"I wonder if they've discovered anything new since we left? Would you know?" Konoka asked, her eyes unreadable. Her tone had not changed throughout the exchange.

"We don't talk as often, since I teach a different class now," Negi answered. Despite the strange derailing, he asked the question again. "But Konoka-san, seriously... how did you merge the Kantou and Kansai Associations? How did you gain this seat of power?"

Konoka looked innocently at her throne seat. "Well I'm sure the first ruler had it built, it hasn't changed in so many years..."

"Konoka-san!" Negi snapped, tired of her roundabout avoidance. "This is serious!"

Konoka's suddenly became very grave, and Negi almost regretted his outburst. Sitting back down, Konoka's voice dropped to somewhere above a whisper.

"Three years, Negi-kun. Set-chan and I ran away from a losing battle and our responsibilities." Negi noticed the subtle grip she had on her throne seat, and it was growing tighter. "A three year honeymoon at the Hakurei Shrine. It was like a whole new world..." She shook her head. "But I couldn't run away for much longer. I simply came back and _took charge_, nothing more, nothing less."

This vague answer confused him even more than her avoidance earlier.

"Uh... Konoka-san...?"

"Unfortunately for you, Negi-kun, I'm a very busy woman, and so is Set-chan," Konoka gained her jovial mood again. She stood up, swirling her fingers as if she were preparing a magic technique. "I'm afraid you'll have to come back some other time!"

"Konoka-san—!" Negi shot up, surprised that Konoka was dismissing him on what appeared to be a sudden whim. Alas, the forced transmission magic was already in effect, and he found himself awash in a flash of white before the world came back in focus, finding himself nearby the Kyoto train station once again. The only sensation Negi had felt something like disappointment.

_Maybe one day soon we'll meet again, Negi-kun._ Konoka's parting words echoed through his head.

Dismayed, Negi began the long train ride home.

* * *

Negi sighed as he returned to the dorms, thoughts of this new Konoka swamping his mind.

Konoka-san... what happened to you? he thought grimly as he marched in. He sighed again discontentedly as he plopped himself on the bed.

First this chaos with getting there, and then both Konoka-san and Setsuna-san shrouding themselves in mystery. This doesn't make sense... The only thing he could notice outside of their usual front was a much... harder demeanor about them.

It was then he heard the first music to his ears in a while... "Negi-kun?" A voice called from the kitchen area.

In walked in Ako Izumi. For a second, Negi stood there paralyzed.

"W-What, is there something on my face?"

"N-No,"Negi replied quickly. She gave him a quizzical stare and crossed her arms.

Negi gave her a smile that he hoped soothed any suspicions she might harbor. It froze the moment it appeared; something still bothered him. Ako's red eyes reminded him of Setsuna's, but Ako had a much gentler, kinder warmth in her eyes than Setsuna's cold yet fiery stare.

"Are you sure everything's all right? You look so down..."

"Ako-chan," Negi answered, a more sincere smile replacing the first. Even with his mind growing dark like the evening sky, she continued to shine through his world. Her company had been a high point throughout the last two years. He continued, "I'm kinda miserable..."

"Ah... let me make it better for you," she responded, just a bit more huskily than she meant to sound. Both of their faces began to flush at that. "I-I mean a back massage would help, wouldn't it?"

"It would, Ako-chan," Negi answered smoothly. He unbuttoned his shirt, revealing a body toned by what seemed like many more years of training than what three years would have allowed. Negi lay on the bed, his back facing the ceiling—and Ako. The girl straddled him, and began to calmly massage his back.

"Ah... that feels so good," Negi whispered, trying his damnedest to ignore the rising heat to his cheeks.

"I've gotten better at it fairly quickly, haven't I?" She asked, smiling.

"Indeed," Negi answered. "After all of the crazy news I've learned today and the inevitable madness the magic world will experience, it's nice to hear your voice again."

"Oh?" His words piqued Ako's interest considerably. She wasn't entirely new to the magic world, though she was still learning something new every day. Today just happened to be something even more interesting...

"Konoka-san has indeed returned... after her three year leave," Negi said. "But she doesn't act like the Konoka-san we knew three years ago."

"Konoka-san?" Ako's mind drifted back to the girl in their class, back in the nostalgic days of 3-A. "I think I remember her. She was a kind, if somewhat ditzy person. She transferred away when her father died, didn't she?""

"Turns out that story's not true. She ran away."

"Ran away?!" Ako stopped her massages at that point.

"Yeah... I asked where but she didn't give me a straight answer—she only mentioned something about a honeymoon..." Negi answered. "Even so, I'm wondering what could've happened that made her that way... she even assumed power of the big magic associations," Negi flipped to face Ako, the girl rising just enough to give him the leeway to do so. "She killed nearly half of their number, claiming that all of those she killed have been guilty of heavy corruption." His words intensified the uncomfortable atmosphere. "But I can't imagine where she'd even get such proof, let alone if she was right."

Ako's face was aghast. "Why..."

"Something's changed within her, Ako-chan. I didn't believe it at first either—I had to talk to her myself. But I truly saw it... Konoka is no longer her old self."

Negi paused and looked Ako in the eye.

"She at least acts like her old self but... I want 3-A's Konoka-san back."

"Negi-kun," Ako understood the situation. She turned her gaze away from Negi temporarily. "3-A is nostalgic, isn't it? Most of our gang is gone and doing their own thing. But..." she turned back to Negi. "For those of us still here, maybe we can still help you, and help Konoka-san, Negi-sensei."

"That's a great idea, Ako-chan!"

Negi perked up. Solutions weren't always hard to cook up, and with Ako's idea it would be great to catch up with his old students and friends. He finally noticed the fashion in which Ako had straddled him, and seeing her reaction, she may have noticed the same. Both of their cheeks began burning in a matter of seconds.

"Umm..." Negi began. "Could you continue the massage Ako-chan?" Negi spun around, unable to rid the flush in his cheeks.

Ako giggled softly before stretching her fingers and continuing her handiwork. She rather liked doing it, and the embarrassment from both of them was either an easy price to pay or worth the price of admission; she couldn't tell which. "Remember our last date, before I knew about magic?" The girl asked, starting softly.

Negi grinned. "Hehe, remember it clearly..."

--

That day, about two years ago, Ako and "Nagi" were at the movies.

The date began innocently enough. The dashing persona Negi crafted had swept the young girl off her feet and took her to a small dinner at a restaurant nearby. Ako seemed to rather enjoy it. "Nagi's" tongue wound up disagreeing with him, but he enjoyed the experience nonetheless.

At the movies however, "Nagi" wound up ordering a large bag of buttered popcorn that would soon prove to be his undoing. Since he hadn't eaten as much as Ako did at the restaurant, he made up for it with his popcorn share.

Much too late did Negi realize that liquid butter reduces the effect of the age deceiving pill, and to this day still couldn't figure out why. All he knew was, suddenly, the age deceiving pills ran out of strength, and, with a flash, right before Ako's eyes, he was Negi Springfield once again.

Ako's horrified expression gave way to fainting.

"Ako-san? Ako-san?!" Negi had hissed in concern. "AKO-SAAAAAN!"

Ako's fainting had worried Negi, so he quietly scooped her up into his arms and made a swift and stealthy exit.

Negi didn't come to a stop until he reached the fountain nearby the World Tree. He didn't remember then, but that was where he had whisked Ako back in time. He gently laid her down, worry and concern racing all over his mind. Ako-san... I screwed up.

Then the girl began to stir, and her eyes opened to the concerned face of Negi Springfield, affirming her crazy dream was not, in fact, a dream.

"EEEEEEE!" Ako screamed.

"AAAAAAHHH!" Negi also danced around in a panic, not helping matters at all. "I'm busted! I'm totally busted!"

"Negi-sensei, that was you?!" She had asked incredulously. "That was you the entire time?"

"L-l-listen..." Negi began to try and explain, but alas, there was no explaining out of this one. She saw the whole thing with her own eyes, and he screwed up big time. He sank down. "Ako-san, the truth is... I used magic to take that form, as strange as that sounds. But please believe me when I say that I only wanted to make you feel better! I noticed you weren't feeling so great, so I wanted to help you out as a teacher," His eyes began to water, but he didn't cry. "I've been totally rotten to you..."

"Negi-sensei..." To go through so much for her sake, the girl was truly touched. So she took him by surprise when she simply hugged him. "You've made me feel like a main character again... thank you."

Negi found himself surprisingly comfortable... nay, warm in that embrace. They stayed that way for a good hour, gazing at the twilit sky.

--

"That was just a beginning," Negi reminisced of those still innocent and chaotic days before Konoka and Setsuna had left. "I still feel somewhat guilty about the whole thing. Even now, we weren't... still aren't the most uhh..." The words were lost to him—a trait that he felt had struck with him, even after finishing puberty.

"That doesn't matter, Negi-kun!" Ako admonished, nearly making him jump in surprise. "Love is love, right? Together, we're the main characters in our own romance. The fact that I'm here... with you, is enough," She smiled. "We'll see to it that we're there for Konoka-san, too. That's what love is for, right?"

Negi thought for a moment. Her words made sense, and from that, he smiled as well. "Yeah, that's right."

Both of them relaxed, since this day would perhaps be the last peaceful one for a good, long while.

* * *

(Seraph: As far as transition chapters go, I think this was a good one. At least it was fun to write. No awesome action, but that's fine. We have romance - or at least an attempt at it. Oh, and one last thing: We had action in the Prologue and romance in Chapter one. In Chapter 2, we have... whoops, ran out of time.

Ansem: We're always looking for concrit if you've got it. We like praise, too. Flames are used for campfires to light up some s'mores, and irrational suggestions will be CONSUMED IN DARKNESS if you didn't get the message last time.)


	3. Chapter 2

**When Light Descends to Madness**

**Chapter 2**

The following morning had Negi and Ako walking into the hollow halls of Library Island. Since their previous adventures there, a good majority of the island had become less of ghost-like and had gained more human activity. The first floor had even been reduced to allow for non-adventurous types to walk about safely.

The sight brought back memories to Negi and Ako, who had been busy with their own teaching and studies to visit the building much in the past few years. However, today's visit was not for sight-seeing.

Discreetly, Negi and Ako descended down a nigh hidden spiral staircase. The din (for a library anyway) quieted down to a level that was closer to the past.

Ako grabbed Negi's hand as the shadows began to overpower the light. When Negi gave her a reassuring smile, she blushed but kept her grip on his hands tight. Soon, they reached the second basement level.

Strangely enough, the light was still fairly strong here. As the two looked around for the source of the light, a familiar sound reached their ears, a soft tap, tap that was more suited to some far-away and isolated mountains. It sounded like rappelling, if rappelling had a distinct sound to it.

Negi smiled and looked up identify the source: one Yue Ayase. The girl had changed little physically in three years, making it easy for Negi to recognize her. Yue was one of his former students that he had been touch with in the past few years, though meetings were uncommon and scarce in between.

"Yue-san," Negi greeted cheerfully as they rounded the corner.

"N-Negi-sen..." stammered the girl as her feet touched the floor. Her hair was matted from her exertion and her face was flushed. Then, she visibly recovered from her shock. "I mean, Negi-san?"

Ako popped out from behind and waved.

"Ako-san too," she greeted with a more normal tone. She looked around uneasily. "What brings you two here?" She was obviously still surprised at their visit, but her question sounded too uncomfortable to be mere surprise.

"What do you mean?" Negi asked, smile fading. "Is... something going on?"

Yue paused for a second before replying, "No, nothing," in her usual flat tone. "Welcome back to Library Island," she added dryly, "How may I help you?"

Negi and Ako looked at each other.

"A moment of your time?" Ako asked.

The librarian gave them a little look over and crossed her arms. "Hmm, I think that's impossible. I'm busy…"

The flat denial took Negi aback, but then Yue gave them a small smile and said, "…but of course you can."

A voice interrupted Negi and Ako's shock. "Oh? Yue-san gained a sense of humor?" A familiar face pressed down between them, resting on their shoulders. The boy whirled around as Asuna Kagurazaka stepped back.

"I've always had one, thank you very much," Yue replied, irritated.

"Asuna-san!" Negi exclaimed, incredulous. "What are you doing here?"

"Not telling," she winked. Then, she gave him a self-confident grin and ruffled his hair. "Wow, you've grown again since last year."

"She came for presumably the same reason as you," Yue sighed. "Come on, we're keeping Nodoka waiting."

"Honya-chan?" Asuna beamed, "Man, this feels like a school reunion."

Casually, as if three years hadn't gone by, Asuna walked up to Negi, slung and arm around his neck and gave his hair another good ruffle. Though he had grown taller, Asuna still had a height advantage. Ako giggled as Negi protested valiantly against the rough treatment.

"Asuna-san, really now," Negi gasped, panting for breath. "Please don't do that. I'm not a kid anymore."

She just grinned back in her usual way, not the least out of breath. "Are you still washing your hair every day, Negi?"

"How old do you think I am?" Negi shot back, ignoring Asuna's amused look. "...Besides, you check up on me every month already. Do you need to bring this up EVERY time you call?"

"Now, now, Negi-kun, Asuna-san is only showing she cares," Ako tried to placate Negi's indignant rage.

"Can we get going now? It's not a good idea staying in one place for such a long time," Yue called, several feet to the front. She sounded worried.

"Why, what's around that we can't take care of?" Asuna asked all bravado.

"Did you forget that this is Library Island?" Yue replied, and before anyone could get a word in edgewise, she added, "Now let's go, before we find trouble, or trouble finds us."

"A bit cautious there," Asuna grumbled, but followed nevertheless.

Negi and Ako stepped in line beside her, content to follow a professional member of the Library Exploration Club through the depths of the maze of bookcases. Despite Yue's warning, they hardly encountered any trouble and only the sounds of their trek accompanied them as they moved deeper into the library.

The familiar taps of rappelling broke the silence of the group, although the sound came at a far slower pace than earlier. The group came to a stop as Yue called out, "Nodoka."

The sound stopped. "Yue-Yue," Nodoka Miyazaki's voice called down, and the girl eased herself down to the group. In three years, Nodoka had a growth spurt, and no longer had a flat chest, though she was not as well-endowed as her bigger classmates. Upon landing, however, the girl froze, startled at the sight of, "N-Negi-sensei!"

"Nodoka-san. It's been a while," Negi said demurely, bowing slightly.

"Likewise..." Nodoka said and bowed quickly. Then, she saw Ako, who stood faithfully by Negi's side. There was a certain stiffness as she bowed to her as well. "Hello, Ako-san."

A more nervous stiffness was returned to her. "H-Hello, Nodoka-san."

On the other hand, Asuna's greeting was much brasher. She slung her free hand around the girl, dragging Negi along for the ride. "Yo, Honya-chan! How's it going?"

"Asuna-san. Long time, no see..." Nodoka greeted. Negi shared a Asuna's-the-same-as-always glance with her before she added, "It's nice for us to be together again."

Negi beamed at his friends. The atmosphere had warmed up a bit, and it seemed to get even warmer when the group entered a small room off to the side. Nonetheless, it was still filled with books, but with some quick repositioning, they converted Nodoka and Yue's base for their massive collection of books into its original form of a small table.

Yue took a slight furtive look around before settling down to business. With her eyes as serious as ever, Yue began, "You have likely been suspicious on why we have been so heavily cautious so far."

"That would help," Asuna said, her voice bordering dangerously on sardonic.

The purple-haired girl took this in stride and continued on without missing a beat. "There has been an increase in security around Library Island, almost to the point of draconian, and worse yet, it's only started a few days ago."

"Draconian?" Ako asked. She wasn't familiar with the term.

"Dragons are very protective creatures," Negi explained like a proper gentleman would. "I've heard that encounters with mothering dragons don't go well." He shuddered. "They say the survivors are worse off than the victims."

"No more details, please," pleaded Ako, covering her mouth. Negi quickly clamped shut his own.

"We've been scrutinized more closely as well," Nodoka somberly added. "And getting below this floor is difficult, if not impossible."

"Why?" Asuna asked simply.

Yue and Nodoka exchanged looks briefly before turning back to her. "Rumor has it all of this is under the directive of the Konoe estate." Yue answered, her voice slightly hushed. "Negi-san, do you know if anything is going on down there?"

"I do," the boy answered gravely. "Konoka-san has returned. She's assumed all control of both magic associations in Japan."

"Konoka-san came back?" Yue asked. "I heard that too from the rumors, but..." Nodoka nodded with a frown.

"Konoka?!" Asuna's eyes widened with undisguised pleasure. "She really came back?"

"I saw her myself yesterday and I wouldn't have believed her responsible for the sudden fanaticism and security either, but I encountered _that_ on the way up there. She _and_ Setsuna-san..." Negi's voice dropped. "Something's changed about them."

Asuna's exuberance died down a little. "What do you mean, changed?"

Yue handed her a nearby newspaper. Negi noticed that it was the day's edition, but it didn't look that new. The edges were torn and the paper crumpled and frayed. He wondered about that, but Asuna took his full attention when she crumpled it up into a ball and launched it into a stack of books. Despite the newspaper being just that, paper, the stack collapsed with a cloud of dust that made Ako sneeze.

"You're _joking_," Asuna stood up, knocking over her chair in the process. A mixture of disbelief and anger flashed across her face. "I may not understand too much of magic politics, but you're telling me Konoka came back as a _dictator_? And Setsuna-san too?" She grabbed Negi by the collar and hauled him up. Before, he would have been lifted off the ground, but now, he stood nearly at the same height. Somehow, that fact only saddened him more.

"I only wish I was kidding," Negi answered somberly. "When I went to see them, it was like talking to somebody who went to hell and made it back, but lost a part of their soul in the process."

Asuna sank back to her seat, anger abating. "What happened to them?"

"That would be my question," Negi sighed heavily. "I want to go investigate what happened to them. We do know that the death of the dean and her father didn't go over so well for her..."

"After all, she did run away," Yue added sagely.

"The question would be 'where to?'" he continued. "The only hint she gave me when I spoke to her was something about a 'three year honeymoon at the Hakurei Shrine'. It would be a big tip if it weren't for the fact that I've never heard of such a place before."

Despite the situation, the word 'honeymoon' brought a flush to Ako's cheeks. Her attempt to hide this, however, failed miserably. Asuna noticed it right off the bat. She flashed a strained smile and said, "Hey Negi, watch what you say. Your girlfriend's got ideas."

"Asuna-san!" Negi reprimanded, but alas, his cheeks were threatening to flush as well. "This is serious!"

"Serious Business, am I right?" Asuna jibed, but a stern look from the boy cut the joke short. However, a bigger factor that made her stop was the sudden uncomfortable look on Nodoka's face. Her smile disappeared as if it hadn't even been there.

"Yue-san, Nodoka-san, have you heard of this... Hakurei Shrine? Anything on it exist at all?" Negi turned his question back to the two librarians.

Nodoka shook her head and Yue said, "No, but we can look. We'll probably have to go to the lower levels of the dungeons though; that's where all the magical stuff is located."

"But as we said earlier, security has tightened beyond this floor, and they've sealed the elevator for any place below this floor." Nodoka added. "We don't know how to sneak by them, or if it's a good idea to do that today."

Negi furrowed his brows in deep consternation, trying to figure out a solution. He was just about to suggest something when a new voice cut him off. "If you're planning on going down there, _now_ would be the best time."

Everyone recognized that voice, considering it hadn't changed in the years gone by. However, it was Negi who spoke first. "Eva-san?"

The imperious vampire girl stepped down towards the small group. While her physical appearance hadn't changed in three years, she wore rather casual clothes. Her faithful partner Chachamaru stood by her side as well, face blank as usual. "Welcome back, bouya," Evangeline said with a toothy grin.

"Chibi-brat," Asuna snarled. "Still hanging around here?"

"What do you mean by still? I can do whatever I want now that I'm free, right Chachamaru?" The android nodded in agreement. "But that's of no consequence. In the end, I found that Mahora really is the best place to be."

"Oh really... Now why is that?" Asuna interjected, narrowing her eyes.

"Nowhere in all the world is there such sweet blood to be found."

She stared hungrily at Negi who deadpanned, "No, my blood is not for sale."

"Whoever said 'for sale'?" she asked. "Welcome back, beautiful blood," she exclaimed and sank her teeth into Negi's forearm. It happened so fast that no one had any time to do anything but blink.

"Chibi-brat…"Asuna growled.

"What?" Eva inquired innocently, a few drops of blood trickling out of her mouth. She spotted them quickly and licked them up. "Woops, missed a spot there."

Ako swooned from the sight of the red droplets and leaned on Negi, but she didn't faint. She had gained a stronger constitution over the years and now all she needed to do was close her eyes while imagining happy thoughts and she'd be fine. Happy thoughts… right.

Asuna shook with indignant rage on Negi's behalf but he had grown more than used to the rough treatment of the vampire. Instead of complaining or protesting – which would most probably be in vain – another thought went through his mind.

Obviously, Yue had the same idea because she asked, "What did you mean by now being the best time to go down into the dungeons?"

Eva rolled her eyes at them as if the reason should have been obvious. "The reason now is the best time to go is because of a certain princess's self-crowning which threw the magic world into chaos. As people are panicking now, no one will question the presence of four mages, one magic canceller, and one permanent partner going down to retrieve certain artifacts."

Negi gasped, "You know about the perma-pact?"

"Considering how much it sickens me," Evangeline muttered, a look of disgust on her face, "Yes, I see the little winged hearts fluttering about you two." She glanced at Ako, who looked down shyly. "Hmph. Izumi, is it? You look a bit mentally tougher than when I saw you last. Then again, I guess my vampiric powers and charm did rub off on you."

Ako took a moment to put two and two together, but the resulting four nearly blew her mind. "...Wait. That means you were responsible for the vampire attacks we had three years ago?! And you bit me?!"

"Mmm... by proxy," Evangeline casually answered, as if she were discussing the weather. "But enough about that, we should get ready to burst downstairs. It's been a while since I've been able to terrorize some lesser mortals," she winded her arms to stretch them much like a baseball pitcher would while grinning evilly.

A slightly fearful Ako leaned over to Negi and whispered, "Was she always like this?"

Apparently Yue, Asuna and Nodoka also heard, since they chorused with Negi, "Don't ask."

"I heard that!" Evangeline snapped. But she did not harass them any longer. After all, there were some lesser mortals to terrorize. With that, the small group mentally readied themselves as they headed to the lower end of the stairs.

* * *

Misty-grey smoke ringlets floated up into the air and were lost to the depths of the darkness above. Usually, the shadows crawling on the ceiling of a building wouldn't be described as "deep." That was a word usually reserved for the black abysses told of in fairy tales or in really bad fiction, but considering the fact that no one had ever seen the unfathomably high ceiling of Library Island's fifth level, deep was adequate.

In such a dark place, the red glow of a cigarette butt was clear and even gave off light, small though it was. With a satisfied sigh, Mook One leaned back in his chair, let out a particular large smoke ring, and asked, "Hey, you want one?"

Mook Two rolled his eyes and blatantly refused, saying, "You know I don't smoke."

Mook One rolled his eyes back at Mook two and said, "Suit yourself."

The two mooks sat there in a relaxed quiet for a moment.

"Hey…"

"Yeah?"

"Uh…"

"…yeah?"

"Where's everyone else? Didn't they say they'd be back with lunch in a few minutes?"

"Hmm… good point."

"Hmm…"

"Water…"

"Yeah… wait, what?"

All of a sudden, the two mooks found themselves plunged into water. To be more accurate, bubbles of water suddenly appeared around them. They struggled in the watery prison but their fates had been already been sealed. Mook Two dropped first, but Mook One held onto consciousness enough to give his cigarette one last puff before falling into the depths of unconsciousness as well. It occurred to neither of them, unconscious as they were, that the cigarette was still burning lively when the water bubbles suddenly popped and released their contents onto the floor. In a most definitely unnatural manner, the water burst into steam and then disappeared.

"Wow, Honya-chan! That was pretty cool!" Asuna beamed as the culprits of the utter domination appeared from the shadows. "But really, why'd you have to take them out so quickly? I wanted some action too…" She gave her sword a few enthusiastic swings overhead. Negi ducked hastily when the large blade nearly gave him a new hairstyle.

Eva laughed and said, "Don't sulk. You got your fill of the fun two levels ago." As she spoke, her laugh echoed eerily and gave her voice a rather creepy edge when she added, "It's my turn next."

Negi, Nodoka, and Yue quickly shouted, "No!" Ako only looked on confused by their vehement reaction.

Similarly, yet dissimilarly confused, Eva asked angrily, "Why not?"

Chachamaru quickly diffused the situation by stating bluntly, "Deaths would leave behind more aggravating evidence, and anger the enemy more. And also, Negi-sensei… Negi-san, does not wish for any blood to be shed."

"Hmph, bouya's still too soft," Evangeline harrumphed. However, she suddenly raised an eyebrow. Negi could have sworn her ears twitched like a bat's before she said, "We've got even more company."

A crowd of mooks, led by Mook Three, stopped to see the small group gathered at the top of the stairs. "What the hell? Who are these kids, and what are they doing down here, making all of this noise anyway?!" Mook Three and about half of them aimed their staffs at the approaching group.

"Leave this to me, then," Yue stepped in, wielding her own small staff. She aimed it at the advancing crowd before waving her staff like a conductor's baton. With one final swish a single, powerful thunderbolt rained down on the crowd and shocked the charging group into unconsciousness.

"Whoa... you've definitely improved, Yue-san," Negi stared appreciatively at the results of her single spell.

"She's just lucky nobody had a Franklin Badge on," Evangeline quipped and failed to bite back the urge to smirk. Safe to say she only got confused looks from the rest of Negi's group. "Otherwise she'd be eating her own lightning attack."

At those words, Yue spotted a few remaining mooks cast simple reflection spells before continuing their charge. "You just had to give them ideas..."

Evangeline shrugged. "I'm a genius, aren't I?

"It's my turn then," Negi said, taking a fighting stance. "Master, I'll show you how I've improved," Focusing, he continued. "I'll handle them without permanent damage to a soul."

The vampire girl raised her eyebrow at both her former title and his declaration.

"Negi-san, I will provide support as well," Chachamaru spoke up.

Eva leaned in close to Negi. "You've got my attention," she whispered into his ear and drew away as he shuddered. "_Maybe_ I'll back you up," she twirled her fingers, as if reeling in the string from a kite.

"Master, please don't kill anybody!" Negi shouted as he lunged for an attack against an armed guard, expertly smashing him away with an elbow. The man was sent careening into two of his fellow mooks. Negi quickly and carefully slammed another man into the ground, bringing the man's spell to a grinding halt.

Chachamaru had even more efficiency and less mercy than Negi, opting for a clean, powerful punch to the face of a mook trying to sneak up on the mage.

"Are you sure _I'm_ the person you need to be concerned about killing anyone?" Eva called with a chuckle as she cast near-invisible strings onto a group of guards and entangled them into a tight mess. Negi and Chachamaru kept on knocking down mooks, not bothering to answer her.

"Geez, we need backup, these guys are impossible!" a mook shouted.

"Don't hold back anymore! We couldn't kill them even if we needed to!" another bellowed. Like flipping a kill-switch, the guards suddenly pressed their attacks and their rate of magic fire increased. Negi and the others backed up slightly, for once on the defense.

"Ah geez, we pissed them off," Asuna pouted as she almost casually sucked another beam of magic into oblivion. But against a more ferocious spell, she had to keep her sword in front and steady. Unfortunately for her opponents, keeping it steady meant nothing more than holding the giant blade in one hand as she turned to look at Ako. Crushing their hopes as she did so, she showed them her back to ask, "Hey Ako-san, what can you do?"

Ako gave a heavy sigh before putting up a hesitant smile. Despite her insecurities however, she stood firm as she stated, "I sing."

"Sing?" Asuna and Yue chorused, raising their eyebrows.

"And use medicine..." The pale haired girl added quickly before pulling out her permapact card. With a quiet whisper of "Adeat," from Ako, her card lit up and took the form of a thin guitar, stylized much like a syringe. The beginnings of a smile formed on her face while she gazed at her artifact; she then straightened up and finished, "...but mostly sing."

"What are you going to do?" Asuna asked sarcastically, "Sing them to sleep?

"I could do that... or I could sing and enhance our strength," Ako answered, blushing just a tad.

Seeing the remaining guards finally pull together a combined attack, Eva shouted, "Then hurry up and sing before your boyfriend and I are forced to kill them all, you spoony bard!"

Ako's eyes watered at that random insult, but she cast that aside with a shake of the head and began to strum... before belting out a powerful rock melody. "Give me all you loooooooooove!"

Those words definitely invigorated Asuna. Fed up with merely holding the enemies at bay, she gave a battle-cry, sliced the beam of magic in half, dashed into the midst of mages, spun around 360 degrees, let her blade do the work of sending them flying, all before smashing a random mook with her sword and sending him careening into the air. He crashed into the ground, nearly leaving a perfect crater where he landed. "Whoa, I feel powerful!"

Evangeline, on the other hand, wasn't enjoying this. As the vampire girl was already strong, the amplified strength was forcing her to hold back even more, lest her foes be little more than flesh tissue against even her weakest attacks. "Rrrrgh! Look at me! I'm being forced to _flick_ people unconscious just so I don't kill them! This is pissing me off!" The vampire girl began to grit her teeth and let go of her restraint ever so slightly.

Negi felt it. "Master, please don't!" Unfortunately, irony struck as Negi whipped around and smashed somebody's leg in. Realizing what he did, Negi immediately stopped attacking and apologized profusely to his victim, attempting to heal the fracture as well. Evangeline simply laughed at the irony.

Realizing that everything but Ako's singing had gone silent, Chachamaru did a quick assessment. "It appears that all resistance has been negated. The bottom floor to Colonel's villa is now accessible." With that, Ako let her singing fade away slowly. Negi of course, beamed at her wonderful performance.

"Him...!" Evangeline snarled. Her memories of the playful and aggravating man had already swelled to a climax, and the last time she had seen _him_ was three years ago! Even so, a visit to the crazy man would at least hasten their search for any clues on the Hakurei Shrine. "Eugh, enough about that, let's just get this over with."

"We should hurry up before all these people come to," Yue muttered. "I don't know how long that is and I don't feel like sticking around to find out."

* * *

The unusually bright underground greeted the group of seven as they marched towards the entryway of one Albiero Imma. Ako gaped in wonder at the beauty of the place. "Wow..."

"Been ages since I've been down here," Asuna said.

"Hopefully it'll be the last time, too," Evangeline groused.

Suddenly, a mighty and unsettling thumping came to life, and the earth shook from each thump. "Um, wh-what's that?!" Ako asked fearfully.

"Say hello to the guard dog..." Negi breathed as the footsteps came closer. The stomping revealed something with a wingspan, deadly claws and a powerful gait. "...or should I say, guard dragon..." The creature spotted the group and immediately began to snarl.

"Maybe you'll get to witness draconian protectiveness firsthand."

"Ehehehe… no thanks."

"Just how long were you eavesdropping, chibi-brat?"

"Unjust accusations fly everywhere today."

"Careful, the dragon is coming."

"Negi-san, I believe the correct term here is wyvern," Yue corrected softly, but her voice rose in ferocity when she spoke to said wyvern. "I remember _you_, drooling on me as you please. I want a rematch!"

"Hey, maybe I don't have to hold back!" Evangeline smiled. The ground froze around her as magic power coursed through her body and into the air around her. From how her smile had widened, she was threatening to summon ice. "It'll be nice to see how long this will last!"

"Don't we have an invitation so we DON'T have to fight this thing?" Asuna raised an eyebrow, keeping her sword steady. "It'll be a pain in the butt if we waste any more strength!"

"We weren't necessarily invited," Nodoka reminded her. "We might have to force our way through."

The wyvern took that as a cue to let out a single, powerful roar.

"It seems to recognize us," Chachamaru noted. "It's warning us not to come in uninvited."

"We're sorry, Mr. Wyvern, but we really need to get through!" Nodoka pleaded to the creature in front of her. The wyvern answered this with a deep breath and belched powerful flames in the group's general direction. Without thinking, the girl called up a spell from memory before shooting her hand up. With it, a powerful wave of water appeared from her feet and enveloped the flames, dousing them.

"No choice, huh?" Asuna sighed. Her movements belied her outward reluctance. One second, she was standing, the next, she suddenly charged, sword at the ready. "ORYYAAAAAA!"

"Take this!" Yue bellowed, swishing around her wand once again to summon lightning. With that, everyone else lead a mighty assault. Even the hesitant Negi charged forward to battle with the dragon.

Everyone fought... that is, except for Ako.

She merely stared in amazement. With the exception of Eva and her servant, everyone else so easily swallowed their fears to fight a creature several times their size – she had never seen Eva scared before and Chachamaru showing expression, much less fear, was incomprehensible – but despite this, she knew that only the tiny Eva could walk away unscathed, so she finally decided to pitch in. Shaking with a combination of both fear and excitement, she hugged the edges of the fierce battle and snuck past, one step at a time...

Meanwhile, the battle was going full scale. Negi summoned an array of magic arrows around him as he leapt over a massive claw. The balls of green light darted forth at his command and elongated into chains which wrapped snugly around the wyvern. Unfortunately, Negi's effort to avoid dealing a fatal or crippling blow left his magic severely underpowered. With another roar, the creature shrugged off the chains and turned a baleful eye toward Negi.

A blast of water from the side turned its attention away from the mage. Nodoka summoned yet another blast of water to negate the mighty wyvern's retaliatory flame. The great beast then gave another roar that distracted Asuna long enough to catch her off guard, but instead of striking at the fallen girl, the creature suddenly perked up, and then fell out as if suffering a bout of narcolepsy. The fighting stopped as each fighter realized that the wyvern was no longer fighting them.

"Huh, how'd this happen?" Asuna stood up and blinked. The creature slumbered quietly for something its size. She glanced over to see Ako pulling her syringe out of the creature's tail. "Oh."

"Well..." Ako began. "Seemed like a good idea to do."

"Looks like something we should have done in the first place." Yue deadpanned. "Then again, we did serve as ample distraction so she could pull it off." A bubble of wet mucus suddenly hit her, dousing her in its contents as it popped. All was silent for a moment as Yue shuddered. Then, with a voice so loud from rage that it pierced the heavens, she yelled, "Again?"

"Thank you, Ako-chan!" Negi beamed, giving his significant other a thumbs-up. She merely smiled in return.

"Okay, enough congratulatory crap, can we get on with it?" Evangeline snarled. "Any minute now, I'm going to be hearing the cat calls of—"

"Why _Kitty_, I wasn't expecting you to stop by here for a while now..." The shadowy and playful Albiero Imma walked outside, his face plastered with a warm grin. "And you brought friends too..."

His smile broadened.

"Old friends I might add…"

--

(Ansem: This ends our jolly romp through chapter 2, and now you know the rest of the gang who's standing up to Konoka's changed character. Stick around, we hope to keep up the awesome.)


	4. Chapter 3

**When Light Descends to Madness**

**Chapter 3**

"Albireo-san," Negi greeted happily, but before he could get within a meter of him Negi was lifted into the air. "Wha…" he began but that quickly turned into a, "Waaaaaaaaaa," when he was spun around in a circle. He hung upside-down as if a hook had caught his leg and was taking him on a trip around the world.

"Negi-kun!" Ako shouted in horror. Wasn't this man supposed to be an ally?

Negi, still spinning in the air, yelled, "IIIIIII'mmmmm soooooorrryyyyyy, Kuuuuuuuuu:neeeeeeeelllll-saaaaaannnnn!"

Albireo Imma's perpetual smile grew slightly wider. With a snap of his fingers, Negi fell back onto solid ground. Still disoriented, Negi stammered out, "S-Sorry, f-forgot… fake name… alias… ugh…"

"Negi," Ako said and rushed over to him.

Yue, Nodoka, and Asuna shared a look and sighed, but Eva took the initiative. She crossed her arms and frowned her displeasure, telling Al, "I don't appreciate you manhandling my servant." Flashing her sharp nails and giving him a good look of her teeth, she added, "Would you like to donate some blood as compensation?"

"Now, now, Kitty, since you've come calling, I bet that means you want your milk and cookies too. Don't worry about making a mess, I have plenty choice… pieces of clothing for you to change into." His eye gleamed, ominously.

For his trouble, he got a blast of magic in his face, but to Eva's immense frustration, the magic went through his body without even giving it a scratch. "Playing with illusions again," she glared.

Said illusion took a second to rectify itself before giving a show of dusting off its robes and replying, "Now, now, little Kat, don't be so hasty. Save your love for the real me." Evangeline merely snarled.

"Who's that?" Ako asked Asuna quietly.

"All you need to know is that he's old and he's a perv," Asuna hissed back. "Typical old man type."

"Old…? But he doesn't look a day over twenty! Or twenty-five…"

Noticing the exchange and the look of consternation on Ako's face, he gave her a wide smile and explained.

"I know how people act," he said, hinting ever so slightly with a glance at who exactly he knew so well. "So naturally, I simply took the necessary precautions. I assure you my real self is inside... somewhere."

"Don't forget yourself," Eva warned, "Literally. It's not fun when you forget where you've left your body, trust me."

"I'll be sure not to, unlike a certain kitty Kat." Then, he raised his arms in welcome. "All of you, please, come inside." And with that, he disappeared, leaving the way in for the group to traverse.

As they entered through the giant doors, Ako gave an appreciative, "Waaa…"

Even though Negi and the others had been there on previous occasion, the sight of Albireo's living quarters left them as speechless as when they had first come. The immense tower loomed above them while mist drifted up from the sheer drops on either side of the rocky path.

Last time we were here, Setsuna-san and Konoka-san were with us too, Negi thought downheartedly. But no, no, don't think about that now. First, we have to find out what exactly happened, and to do that, we first need to find the Hakurei Shrine.

"Welcome, welcome," Al greeted from atop a tall stack of books. The unsteady tower shifted left and right but for some reason, the man managed to stay still. When he looked closer, Negi realized that Al's body did not touch the books. He was floating in midair.

"Ah, that's right. Here, catch." A book slipped out from the stack without disrupting the balance and shot towards Negi, who caught it with one hand. "This is what you're here for, right?"

Negi flipped the book over and looked at the title. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he was reading it right. Then, he blanched. "_Reaching a Satisfying Climax_..." he read out loud. Every female in the room suddenly looked in his direction with faces tinged, although Eva immediately snapped back towards Al with a glare. The no longer oblivious Negi quickly finished the text. "..._in Writing Stories_!" That brought many sighs of relief, and one sigh of disappointment from Eva.

"Tch, all of you are still much too soft."

"Ku:nel-san, this unfortunately isn't what I'm looking for." Negi spoke kindly but directly to the floating man before him, snapping the book shut. "I need something... that tells me of the Hakurei Shrine."

"Hakurei Shrine?" Al's eyes lit up in curiosity. "And why would you need a book on _that_?"

"You haven't been paying any attention to the chaos upstairs, have you?" Evangeline sneered. "Then again, knowing _you_, you probably _have_ and just want to lead bouya to his own logical conclusions."

"It's more fun that way," the mysterious and playful man smiled. "I hear our little Konoe princess has fallen to a bout of evil. Justified evil, but evil nonetheless."

"Our question is _why_," Yue said, her face serious. "We're not sure how she even managed to murder several high level mages in cold blood, let alone if it was justified. And with her newfound seat, what is she aiming to do next?"

Figuring Al would taunt Negi with the question, the boy smoothly added, "The only clue she gave me about her changed personality was her word upon a honeymoon at the Hakurei Shrine. We all figured more information would be down here, or perhaps with you."

"…"

Negi waited in response. Finally, Al snapped a finger and a slim book, a faded scarlet color, slipped out from the stack of books and landed in his hand. Al's expression hadn't changed, but obviously, he had come to a decision. The book made a second trip, out of Al's hand and into Negi's.

"Here you go, Negi-kun. That's what you'll need to get to Gensokyo."

"Thank you," the boy bowed, but something seemed wrong. "Wait, what's Gensokyo?"

Al gasped in mock surprise. "Why, that's the place the Hakurei Shrine leads to, didn't you know?"

Al phrased the question as if that gem of knowledge should be as common as life itself.

"Honestly... no," Negi admitted, earning a laugh from the librarian.

"Still the same as ever. I guess it's true that age can't change the simple."

"Hey!"

"Negi's smarter than a perverted old man like you," Asuna defended her friend, jabbing a finger towards the man.

"Sorry, sorry," Al gestured dramatically, not in the least apologetic. "To show my sincerity, I'll give you a nice tidbit as apology."

"You're never sincere, two-faced magician," Eva snapped.

"Why thank you, kitty Kat."

"I'm listening," Negi interrupted the exchange.

Yue and Nodoka perked up, the latter taking out a little notebook like a student would in class. Ako just looked on as confused as ever.

"This is hardly a lecture," Al began, "but it is a story about an instance that happened a long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away."

Eva groaned. "Save the drama and spill."

"Well, maybe it wasn't all that long ago, but it was in a galaxy far, far away. This place counts; it's a separate dimension, after all."

"You're stretching it," Yue told him bluntly.

Al shrugged. "Children these days… Anyways, as I was saying, not that long ago, here, someone else came knocking on my door trying to find exactly what I just gave you."

"Really, who?" Ako asked, her head tilted in confusion.

"Hmm, long black hair, fit body, holds herself well with dignity… does Cygnus ring a bell?"

They looked at each other. "Nope."

"Didn't think so. Her name was… Akira Ookouchi, I think."

"Akira-san? Why her?" Nodoka asked aloud.

"That's for you to find out later. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm actually quite busy pondering life." Al casually floated back. Only the most keen of eyes could detect that he was gathering magic power for a simple spell, so only Evangeline raised her eyebrows as Al finished, "Either way, I'm not as busy as you save-the-world type of people. And I'm pretty sure the lackeys a few levels above will be here soon to make leaving a tedious and boring task. Note, I didn't say _hard_."

He laughed and waved, "Bye-bye."

For some strange reason, everyone felt the need to blink at that instant – Chachamaru included – and, literally, a blink later, they found themselves outside Al's abode and back in the chamber of the wyvern.

Al's fading laughter was accented by the booming shut of the great portals. The sudden silence they were left in was punctuated only by the deep, guttural snores of the slumbering wyvern.

As one, the group crowded around Negi and the book Al had lent him. The boy took a deep breath, and opened the slim book's cover.

At first, he couldn't make out what he was looking at, but then Nodoka spotted the page's bent corner and tugged. With a dim rustling, the book expanded into a large map.

"This is… Japan," Asuna exclaimed.

"Why thanks for stating the obvious," Eva sighed.

Chachamaru scanned the map with a faint beam from her eyes and said, "My archives show that this map dates back to approximately one-hundred and twenty years ago."

"One hundred and twenty years...?" Ako blinked. She herself examined the map closely. "It _does_ look that old..."

"Hey, Eva-san." Negi turned to the vampire. "Do you remember anything happening here that far back?"

"I wasn't around _here_ that far back, you fools," Eva snapped at the rest of the group, even causing Ako to reel back a bit. However, she thought for a moment and all eyes turned to her. "Politics in the magic and youkai world spreads quite fast though. If I remember correctly, Japan was never as fast as catching up with the magic world as the western nations were, and a lot of youkai were getting weak around that time. Something about faith running weak in Japan. They were having talks about creating their own dimension," The blond vampire gave a fanged smirk just thinking about it. "An old acquaintance of mine wanted to see what the fuss was about, so she moved over there. Guessing by the fact that I never heard from her again, must've been a success. Don't know much beyond that."

"I see," Yue said, as she and Nodoka scribbled down notes on the subject. "So this Gensokyo is a dimension full of youkai?"

"I don't bloody know; that's why we're going to find out!" Eva folded her arms. "Who knows, maybe our princess got possessed or nearly eaten by whatever's in Gensokyo."

"I'm completely lost," Ako moaned.

Negi massaged her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her. "Don't worry, I'll explain things along the way."

"Everyone, we should probably leave now," Chachamaru advised. "Signs indicate Ako-san's medicine will wear off this creature soon. And there is still the possibility of having a 'tedious and boring' conflict with the mages upstairs."

"In that case, let's get moving..." Negi said. "To Gensokyo."

* * *

"Is this the right area?" Asuna sighed. The small group of seven found themselves deep within a mountainous region, with untamed nature as far as the eye could see. "Ugh, we've been at this for hours!"

"What are you talking about? We've only been walking for the past forty-five minutes. We spent most of our search in flight," Ako answered, somewhat confused with Asuna's exasperation, as she believed the redhead was far more fit than her.

"Oh you shut up."

"Hush children, I'm pretty sure we're close," Yue admonished. She glanced about her surroundings, then added, "Just to make sure though... Nodoka, could you hand me the book?"

Nodoka dug said book out of her backpack and easily pulled it out. She handed it to Yue. The shorter girl immediately opened up the map and scanned to check for a comparison for their current surroundings. Without warning, her finger suddenly stopped near the edge of the book. "Wait a minute..."

"Huh? What's wrong, Yue-san?" Negi asked, noticing her confusion. Even Eva raised her eyebrow at her tone.

"Negi..." Yue said, guiding her finger to a point. "This book has been tampered with. A second map was supposed to be here, but it's gone!"

"Gone?!" He exclaimed.

"Didn't Akira-san have this book before we did?" Nodoka asked. "Would she have the other part of this map?"

"I doubt it..." Negi answered. "This map of Japan is complete, whatever she ripped out, even if she did so, has nothing to do with the map here," Deep in thought, Negi sat down on the ground, face contorted into consternation. Yue and Nodoka as well ran their minds on the next course of action.

"Hey, we might as well take a rest," Asuna said as she saw everyone's serious expressions. Most everyone silently agreed and sat down along with Negi, although Eva was simply content sitting on top of a rock. Chachamaru saw no need to sit at all.

Ako, however, was not content to sit in silence. The girl whispered **"Adeat,"** and with a flash of light, summoned her syringe-like guitar. She began strumming a soft, easygoing melody. The soothing melody seemed to burn away any tiredness the group had—even Chachamaru perked up at it.

Negi smiled. Music soothed his heart, no matter what emotions he was going through. Ako's natural talent flourished when they had begun earnest dating, even before magic had been involved in her instruments. Her voice had improved as well. It moved him enough for him to twirl a finger in the air like a conductor's baton. Ako smiled upon seeing it, and the others traded confused looks before dismissing it as a sign that only two lovers could understand.

"Hey, Izumi," Eva called suddenly.

"Hmm?" The girl continued strumming.

"You should stop playing."

"Why?"

Negi flipped up to a standing position; he had to hear this. If it wasn't a good reason, he felt that he would throw logic out the window and fight the vampire girl right then and there.

"Your music is _too_ good, you idiot, especially to youkai ears," Evangeline gave a toothy smirk. "But I guess it's too late now. Everyone else better get ready to fight like bouya is over here." Evangeline's hand began to shimmer with an icy power.

Everyone else blinked in confusion a bit. However, they suddenly picked up the faint sound of buzzing wings, almost like over-sized insects.

"Huh...?" Negi looked up to see a small face peer from the treetops. Then another appeared. And another. And another. Soon, several girls... no, fairies emerged from the trees and surrounding areas and began to swarm all around the seven of them. "Ummm..."

"These guys look... bigger," Asuna noted. Most fey she saw in the few books she bothered reading about magic were barely larger than both of her hands. These fairies had the appearance of eight to nine year old children. "Are they from the magic world?"

"Doesn't look like it, they're much too big," Nodoka breathed. "They aren't...doing anything, so maybe we shouldn't provoke them..."

A sharp western wind blew as nobody, human, vampire, nor fairy moved. Fearful (and one pair of battle-ready and battle-lust) eyes met curious ones.

It was all ruined when Negi sneezed.

"Attack!" The fairies cried. And like that, fierce bursts of magic immediately shot towards them.

The attack caught the mages by surprise, as used as they were to incantations. Only Asuna's quick reflexes saved them from being wounded or worse. As if from thin air, she summoned her blade. The giant sword cleaved an arcing path through the air, nullifying the stream of magic. Magic, no matter what kind of magic it was, faltered against the might of magic-canceling.

"What was that?" Nodoka exclaimed over several explosions. Those magic bolts deflected rather than dissipated created a cloud of dust around the edge of the clearing.

"Less talking, more fighting," Eva interjected, cutting off any reply. Never a hypocrite (when it didn't give her an advantage), Eva leapt into battle. Actually, she only stood, but Chachamaru performed the leaping for her. With a flare of boosters, she literally rammed into the crowd of fairies with explosive impact.

**"Lic Lac La Lac Lilac,"** Eva began, the unlocking spell coming out more as laughter than words.

By the time she had finished the phrase, the conflict had become a full-on battle. Asuna leapt into the fray with her characteristic lack of thought. Negi followed suit, but first, turned to Yue and Nodoka. "Please take care of Ako," he asked them before unlocking his own magic and joining Asuna in the fray.

But before anyone had a chance to do anything, the fairies once again launched an offensive wave of magic. They flew in swarms in the air, summoning magic with scarcely any thought for the supposed law of channeling magic through words. Instead, they fired of a bolt of bright light every few seconds.

The three forward fighters were hard pressed to move forward with the magic raining upon them. Eva also found little time to start her spells with the need to flick away magic every few seconds. They couldn't hurt her, but they tickled worse than feathers.

Negi found an opening in the maze of spells and began to speed cast a simple Sagitta Magica spell, but the moment the magic formed around him the fairies concentrated their attacks on him. As if in a panic, the spaces in between magic bolts suddenly grew much narrower.

Then, suddenly, the attacks faltered. Music flowed through the mountains, the same soft and calming melody as before. Ako had successfully eased the fairies' onslaught.

In the sudden lull, two voices spoke strongly in unison, **"Spirits of Light. Sagitta Magica, Series Lucis! Thirty-seven arrows of light!"**

Yue and Nodoka released the gathering of bright orbs around them into a radiant explosion of lines. The fairies cried out in fright, the effect of the music broken by the sudden existence of magic, and fled from the onslaught. In less than a moment, they had all disappeared.

An unsettling silence returned to the group as the mountain's calm reigned once more. That is, until Asuna spoke again. "Geez, what was with those fairies?!" She looked beyond a now broken tree to see an old stone walkway below. "Eh? Ain't that..."

Yue stepped up and looked below. "Yes, that's the path to the Hakurei Shrine! Everyone, let's go!"

Chachamaru did a quick sweep with her eye sensors first. "Be careful, high magic signatures have been detected."

As everyone mobilized down the slight hill towards the path, Ako had noticed Negi hadn't moved since the fighting stopped. "Negi?" She tilted her head in confusion, seeing the boy still there buried in apparent thought.

There's something strange going on, Negi thought. It should be impossible to cast a spell without an incantation, spoken or not. It should take at least a few seconds to finish even the simplest spell, but the fairies launched their magic at a moment's notice.

"Negi?" Ako asked, her face close.

"Ah!" Negi flinched backward, but the two remained in close proximity. While already a couple, they were still romantically shy, hence their faces grew red as they locked eyes. Almost as if there were magnets between the two, they drew their faces in closer...

"Hey, you lovestruck morons!" Evangeline shouted from the distance, startling both out of their romantic stalemate. "_Hurry up_!" The irate vampire stomped off with the rest of the group.

Negi and Ako exchanged looks and sighed before pursuing the rest of the group.

* * *

The Hakurei shrine, empty and abandoned, stood impassively before the seven adventurers. Despite the lack of attention and the surrounding nature, it looked much like an untouched relic from days of old. Negi, the last to step in, looked at the others. "So this is the Hakurei Shrine... I wonder if any clue about Konoka-san and Setsuna-san is here."

"Anything here in this dump?" Evangeline asked, clearly not impressed with the desolate shrine. "Hah, not likely."

Despite this, they began to search. Nodoka peered through what looked like a kitchen, seeing no signs of recent activity. Yue found an interesting book, but when she went to investigate it, she got a face full of dust and a free sneeze for her efforts.

It was only a hunch, but Negi definitely felt the former presence of Konoka and Setsuna. "I know it... they were here," he whispered. "My best guess is that they were on the run, and this place happened to be the only hidden refuge they could find," something caught his eye. There, laying on the ground, was a single feather. Negi walked over to it and picked it up. "Yes, they were definitely here."

"Is that a feather from Setsuna?" Asuna blinked.

"Looks like it," Negi answered. But upon closer examination, Negi could feel a dark energy, almost feeling akin to a pure dread.

At once the room began to fade out of existence, and darkness opened up below the group.

"Geh?! This was a trap?!" Evangeline gasped in surprise.

In this strange darkness, where evil eyes drifted like lazy swimmers in a pool of darkness, the group suddenly found themselves not just pulled _in_ but pulled _apart from each other_.

"Negi!" Ako and Asuna cried in unison.

"Negi-sensei!" Nodoka shouted.

Negi let out a determined cry as he tried to get back towards his former students. Unfortunately, he only successfully grabbed Ako's hand as the winds grew powerful. From that point, there was only screaming and swirling as they fell, slowly into darkness.

In the outside world, the gap that swallowed our heroes disappeared, leaving no trace of their visit to be seen.

* * *

Negi came to as he emerged from a great darkness.

Rising slowly, he found himself... still in the Hakurei Shrine. Or at least right outside the actual shrine. Seeing a recovering Ako by his side, he mentally sighed in relief. Perhaps it was only a weird dream, or a vision. However, a look around told him otherwise; for one thing, the only other person there was Asuna, and she looked mighty nervous.

"Negi... we're a few heads short." Fear edged its way into her voice.

"What?" Negi looked around in confusion. "How?"

He also noticed a few things very different from the Hakurei Shrine they came upon. For one thing, it looked much cleaner and far better kept. It also showed recent signs of activity.

"Negi...?" Ako looked at the boy, still dazed from the unplanned trip.

"Ako-chan, be weary... something's wrong," Negi issued a weary warning.

"_Wrong_, you say?" A voice chimed. As the three looked around in confusion, the voice merrily continued. "But having guests after so long isn't a wrong thing, is it?"

They then looked up to see something appear out of thin air—a paper fan. A paper fan cut through thin air and formed a gap composed of the very same darkness that had dragged them in earlier! From that darkness emerged a woman armed with a fair face, a purple dress, a frilly umbrella, a poofy hat, and a wicked smile. Her long, blond hair fell to the small of her back, and had quite a few ribbons tied in as well. "Having guests from the outside world is fun."

"That darkness..." Negi began. "Was that your doing?"

"What if it was?" she countered, smile still on her face. "What would you do about it?"

Seeing Negi clench his fist in response, she simply waved off his anger. Her smile became slightly more pleasant. "My, my, don't get so heated. We were about to have a feast!"

"A... feast?" Asuna's interest was piqued.

"I don't see anyone else yet..." Ako added, taking a look around.

"Ah..." The woman sighed. "That would be because _you are_ the feast." Amidst the surprise that exploded onto Negi and friends' faces, the woman's wicked grin returned.

"Welcome to Gensokyo, land of the Youkai, and you are our meal."

-X-

(This is where the Touhou comes in! Ahahaha, alas Seraph's busy again so I'm alone in author's notes. Don't expect an update next weekend as school is starting and we have to catch up in other projects (dodges multiple strings of curses and tomatoes for the cliffhanger) geez, we're sorry!)


	5. Chapter 4

**When Light Descends to Madness**

**Chapter 4**

"Welcome to Gensokyo, land of the Youkai, and you are our meal."

Those were the words that woman declared to Negi, Ako, and Asuna while sitting atop a gap of darkness. She twirled her umbrella and pointed it at the three of them. "Now, I don't remember how quickly humans cook. It's been awhile since I've done something like that."

Now, Negi wasn't having any of that. First he began to focus his magic, chanting the spell in his mind. Copying the woman's motion, he twirled his staff and pointed it back at her, and countered, "You'll have to excuse us if we decline the offer of being somebody's lunch." And with that, seventeen arrows of light flung themselves at the woman.

The woman smiled and flipped back into the darkness, the gap disappearing after her. The magic arrows disappeared into the sky. Getting a feeling that something had begun rather than ended, Ako and Asuna leapt to their feet, calling their weapons with a quick "Adeat!"

Detecting something behind him, Negi whirled to see another gap appear and the woman reemerge. "You're not an average outsider after all. I knew there was something special about you, just like those two other little human girls."

"B-but we're not little girls!" Ako exclaimed as Negi leapt back, but the woman had already disappeared.

"I wasn't talking about you two," she said as she reappeared above them. Her hands hung lazily over the side of the gap as she added, "After all, I don't think you were here three years ago."

"Three years ago?" Negi repeated, "but that's…!"

"Too much talk for one thing," the woman interrupted, "and for another, I haven't even introduced myself yet."

She, and her gap, disappeared again as another one opened up in front of the trio. The woman stepped out onto firm ground with a light tap of her feet. "Nice to meet you. My name is Yukari Yakumo, the Youkai of Borders. The more distasteful acquaintances of mine shorten that to the Border Witch."

"Why did you bring us here?"

"Tsk, tsk, what manners," Yukari scolded, "Asking questions already without giving me your name."

The humans shared an uneasy look. In the end, Negi replied, "My name is Negi Springfield, Yukari Yakumo-san."

"Yakumo-san, that has a rather nice ring to it," she smiled. "All right then, little boy, why don't we have a little match before the feast? You win, and I'll find something else to eat. Lose… well, I guess there's no benefit for me if you lose. Fair terms?"

Asuna didn't like it… but maybe for the wrong reasons. She interrupted, "Hey, what about us?"

Yukari looked her over and then said bluntly, "Hmm, no interest."

"What was that?" Asuna growled.

"I'm only interested in the mage. I do believe they're a delicacy here in Gensokyo."

Asuna lifted her sword with one hand and swung it at Yukari as a challenge and in an effort to release some of her anger. Unfortunately, it didn't work that well. Ako, on the other hand, was rather relieved that the strange lady had deigned her existence too small to notice, but it wasn't much of a victory if Negi got hurt. She stuck closer to her boyfriend as if her mere presence could protect him.

Yukari sighed. "Oh well, guess Ran will have something to eat too tonight. Now, are you prepared?"

"No way," Negi retorted. "I don't feel like being a meal today."

She pouted. "All this talking is making me hungry." As she spoke, the forest behind her began to swell with light. The brilliance resolved into small, compact balls that resembled Negi's Sagitta Magica spell. With a charming smile, she added, "As I've never actually tasted a human mage before, don't mind if ignore your opinion and begin, all right?"

The spinning balls of light flashed forward. Negi responded by sending a wave of light arrows at the strange, instantaneous magic. They collided in midair and mixed together before bulging and imploding leaving little sparkling rings in the air. To Ako, it looked more like a fireworks show than a battle.

"Danmaku?" Yukari mused contemplatively. "No, much too slow for that," she mocked. "Don't worry though. I'll make sure not to end this match too quickly. Here's something a little bigger."

This time a whole fireworks show exploded behind her, filling the air. There must have been more than thirty of them as they darted forward like eager dogs to the chase.

"Ah geez!" Asuna exclaimed between clenched teeth as she and Ako turned tail to avoid the assault. Instead of fleeing with them, Negi dashed directly at Yukari, sprinting through the barrage, weaving between the lancing bullets. As he cleared the last projectile, he unleashed the magic he had gathered, shouting out, **"Sagitta Magica!"** Twenty-seven arrows flashed from his open palm into the woman's face.

But Yukari merely waved a hand and the arrows stopped in mid flight, shattering instead against a barely perceptible barrier.

"That was better than before," she commented, "maybe I can pick up the pace a little."

A gap appeared from her shoulder and released a ball of light that struck Negi square in the forehead. The mage flew back a fair amount of distance before regaining balance by flipping off his hands onto his feet. That would have taken my head off if I hadn't shielded it, he thought with a shiver. With that thought, he decided to make a tactical retreat.

"Run all you want," Yukari grinned. "You'll get nowhere." True to her words, a boundary formed around the woman and her prey, encircling them in a wall with no cracks. Trees were split in half by the borders of the rectangle.

"Geez, no running, huh?" Asuna said as Negi joined her and Ako. "Then it looks like it's time to cut this woman down to size!"

"My dinner talks back to me. How amusing," Yukari continued to smile. "Then show me why you think I should let you live!" More balls of light appeared around the Border Witch, but this time, they circled her instead of lancing towards the humans. Also, several gaps opened up, out of which came lines of blue that pierced the chests of Negi and Ako.

The two jumped back in surprise, only to find themselves unharmed.

"What the—?!" Negi managed to say before a loud roar drowned out the rest of his words.

A flash of brilliant blue exploded where they had been standing a second earlier, erasing all presence of the particles in its path. The force was enough to push the two to the ground and they would have been badly burned were it not for the magic protecting them.

Ako cringed on the ground. The sight was enough to make Negi see red. He didn't know exactly who or what he was up against, but if Ako was in danger, _it had to stop_. Negi snarled and disappeared in a blur. An instant later, he appeared under Yukari with a snarl and burst out, "Lightning Axe!"

The Youkai, eyes wide with surprise, moved back unconsciously, saving her from the massive yellow bolt that crashed down from above, consuming the circling white balls with its thunderous intensity.

Yukari recovered quickly. "Finally, something that is more dangerous than a flower," she commented at the brilliant yellow streak, idly running a hand through her hair.

Asuna followed Negi's example and launched herself forward with a mighty, magic-enhanced leap.

"TERIIAAAAA!" Summoning the merger of chi and magic, she used her Kanka technique to empower herself, and lunged towards the woman with her now glowing sword.

At the same time, Negi, with a bout of feverish chanting, let drop another Axe of Lightning from the sky.

Negi's axe of lightning was repositioned by two large gaps summoned by Yukari, one above her and the other in front, right in the path of Asuna's leap. The bolt of lightning created a wall between the woman and Asuna whose momentum catapulted her forward.

"GYAH!" Asuna screeched, launching herself backwards with a blast of kanka to narrowly avoid the spell.

"Watch where you're aiming that, brat!" she yelled at Negi.

"But Asuna-san, I was aiming at HER! That was nowhere near you!"

Laughter interrupted the squabble. "Hahahahaha, what a party! I can't believe you managed to touch me." She fingered a rip in her skirt so small it could have been part of the frilly design. "I take back what I said earlier. You're interesting too, little girl."

"Why thanks," Asuna gave a self-confident grin.

"Maybe I should give you a warmer welcome. Something more on the scale of normal."

"Normal?" Asuna said. "That sounds better than beating us up and eating us with weird, voodoo magic."

She laughed again. "Let me tell you this. Here in Gensokyo, there's a big gap between Easy and Normal."

"I hope that's not a pun," Ako added nervously.

From her sleeve, Yukari drew a rectangular card that ominously reminded Negi of a pactio card.

She swung up her hand. **"Infinite Superspeed Flying Object."**

As she spoke, a wave of darkness spread out behind her. Gap after gap opened like the eyes of a hundred demons. From the darkness came a volley of blue spheres and a crisscross of the same lines of blue that had targeted Ako and Negi earlier, too innumerable to count.

"AWAH!?" Negi and Asuna chorused in shock as they sprinted away from the solidifying lasers.

"How the hell can she do that?!" Asuna yelled, as she dodged the missiles. She winced as a bullet whacked her in the arm. "A better question: how are we supposed to dodge them all?"

"With skill," Yukari suggested as she watched the spectacle. Then, music began to play, a fast beat with a tempo that seemed to increase every second. Suddenly, Negi and Asuna's movements had sped up threefold. The Youkai cocked her head to the music for a second before adding, "Or that."

But the two fighters were still hard pressed, even with Ako's music fortifying their speed and reaction times.

And then, Negi slipped. On what, no one ever found out, but it was his saving grace. A laser ripped through the air, an inch from his nose, and circular bullets hit the ground with no room to spare… but he was unhurt. Immediately, it clicked.

"Asuna, minimize your motions!" he yelled.

"_What_?"

"Try to dodge the bullets by as little room as possible. There's a pattern to this. Find it and use it before you get trapped."

Yukari raised an eyebrow. "Oho, he understands grazing already."

Asuna tried but failed miserably, earning a bruise across the cheek. "Whoever first said, 'easier said than done,' obviously wasn't talking about a life-threatening situation. Ow! He certainly wasn't slapped while saying it either."

With an ease that belied the fact that he had only understood the trick a moment ago, Negi slid through the pattern of bullets and lasers. When compared to Asuna's fumbling, he made it look so simple.

**"Spirits of the air…"** As he began his incantation, green orbs of light began to gather around him, much like the way the blue-white orbs revolved around Yukari. The Youkai of Borders leaned forward to watch with narrowed eyes, but of course, she was not about to let him get near that easily.

A cascade of lasers dropped into Negi's path, forming a radiant shimmering wall of concentrated energy. Unperturbed, he raced headlong towards the pillars then veered sharply left. Yukari tracked his motion with a wave of blue spheres, but he moved too fast for any to hit.

A shape materialized in the haze of bullets on a direct course for the Youkai. "It's not that easy," she said, raising a hand. The object slammed into her barrier and quivered. "A piece of wood!?"

**"Sagitta Magica!"** Negi chanted from the opposite side, **"Fifty-three arrows of binding air!"**

The orbs that had gathered at Negi's side darted forward. In a complex tangle of motion, the arrows turned into long, green lines that wrapped around Yukari. With a final snap, the magic fastened its hold on her and quieted.

The energy particles zooming around disappeared into motes of light. One by one, her gaps disappeared, leaving the only magic active the arrows wrapped around her like rope.

"Negi-brat, you did it!" Asuna cheered, picking herself up from the ground where she had been lying low.

"Not bad," the captured woman agreed.

Negi rubbed his head modestly. "I've had practice."

Ako's instrument faded with her music. The artifact reformed into a card and slipped into her pocket, but the girl was in too much of a rush to notice.

"Yakumo-san, I think I've won." Negi approached her seriously.

"Maybe," Yukari remarked. "...but maybe not quite yet."

"What do you mean?" This couldn't be good.

She only smiled. Negi saw nothing – no movement of her hands, and she said nothing more – but suddenly, her bonds disappeared. They shattered with a ringing like glass, and the woman reached out a hand. Negi jerked back but her hand touched his head, and suddenly, he couldn't move. "What a good boy. A bit naïve, but better because of it," she cooed and gave his head a pat. "Now why don't you come home with me?"

Negi didn't have a chance to answer. One moment, he was caught spellbound, the next he had been blown several feet away. He groaned and shook his head. A muffled ringing still lingered in his ears.

He looked up and winced. A patch of dirt about a foot away from where he had stood had suddenly and quite violently been replaced by a small crater.

"Yukari, what's with all the noise? Shouldn't you be taking your fifth, late noon nap right about now?"

Everyone looked up to where a girl dressed in black and white sat on a floating broom with arms crossed. She wore what could only be described as a witch's hat. With a yawn, the girl brushed away her blond hair from her golden eyes.

"Ah, Marisa." Yukari looked surprised at her presence. "You look more tired than I'm supposed to be."

"Eh, I was sleeping," she admitted. "And these people are?"

"Intruders, Marisa, _attack_!"

With a half-closed eyes, she saluted, "Yes, sah…"

"Huh wait, _what_?!" the humans chorused together.

Marisa lifted a card into the air and declared, **"Comet: Blazing Star."**

A rush of magical power drew into her broom. Without further warning, she flipped once in the air and then rocketed forward with a trail of stars behind her. Negi grabbed Ako and dove to the side, but Asuna wasn't so lucky. The girl could only pale a shade before Marisa hit her front on.

As gravity brought Asuna back to the ground, Negi pursued his sudden attacker through the line of stars. They were packed so tightly together that he could feel their heat from all sides. Then, he broke free into cool air.

A horrifying sight met his eyes. His entire vision was filled with fiercely glowing green lights. Arrow-like shapes fat with magic shot towards him in a complex, spiraling pattern. As he entered the minefield, the air became stifling hot. Struggling both to breathe and to survive, Negi didn't see Marisa until it was too late. The girl grazed through her own pattern with painful ease and swung her broom. With a crack from the impact, her broom launched Negi away like a golf ball, but it was not over yet.

As he flew, she leapt into the air. And as Negi completed an arc and fell back to the ground, she pulled out an octagonal box an aimed at his falling figure. A thick cloud of particles appeared around Marisa and then collapsed into the box.

"**Love Sign:"**

Yukari giggled. "Oh dear."

**"Master Spark!"**

An intense, rainbow-colored beam blasted from the box and blasted Negi into the ground. The beam completely enveloped him. Nothing could be heard over the roar of the laser except for the consequential rending of the earth. When the rumbling had died down, all that was left of the clearing was a crater and the victimized boy within.

Yukari began clapping.

"Negi!" Ako cried, rushing to the fallen hero's side. Cradling him, the girl felt for the usual signs—heartbeat, breathing—and found both falling to a normal rate, so she sighed in quiet relief. She gave an angry look to the victorious, but confused Marisa and the amused Yukari. "Fine, you won! Are you happy now?!"

"What should I be happy about?" Marisa asked, scratching her head. "He's pretty bad at danmaku, and it's not like I find beating up weaklings fun." When both Ako and Asuna began to snarl in protective rage, Yukari giggled.

"Marisa, I don't think Reimu likes her human well-done."

"I don't like humans period; I'm not a cannibal," a girl stated as she walked out of the shrine building. "Now what's with all the ruckus? I was enjoying my afternoon nap." The best way to describe this lady was red, white, and shrine maiden. However, one could say she had a good deal more red, considering the huge bow on her head and her unattached red sleeves.

"Lazy as always, dear Reimu," Yukari smirked. "I was about to prepare a feast for our newcomers."

"You mean preparing the newcomers as a feast," Marisa corrected.

"Hmph, what are you up to this time?" the woman known as Reimu glared at Yukari. She gave the new arrivals a cursory glance – at best – before then going right back to staring at Yukari. "Humans from the outside world? Are the youkai really that starved?"

"I take it you mean that literally and figuratively, yes?" Yukari flipped open one of her fans.

"Hmm...maybe." The shrine maiden looked somewhat uneasy with the reply, not certain if she would like the explanation.

"Well, maybe I was a _little_ hungry," Yukari began coyly. "But I lost my appetite for food and gained a whole new interest in our new guests when I heard they knew about our visitors three years prior."

Both Marisa and Reimu suddenly turned their heads in interest towards the trio.

"Whoa, hold it! You know about Konoka and Setsuna?" Ako gasped, thoroughly confused.

"...and decided not to eat us _but fought us anyway_?!" Asuna continued with quite a bit more anger.

"What if I said yes?" Yukari smirked.

The redhead's temper threatened to boil again, but Reimu stepped towards them. "Don't bother, she'll confuse you either way." She gave Asuna a tentative smile. "Why don't you guys come inside? We can discuss this over tea. Hopefully in a civilized manner, _right_?" She shot a baleful glare at Marisa and Yukari. Apparently used to such threats, they merely gave a thumbs up and a nod respectively. Satisfied, Reimu led the way back into the shrine, with Asuna following closely. Ako lifted Negi and followed behind Marisa and Yukari.

* * *

When Nodoka came to, all she could see was darkness.

At least, that's what it looked like at first. Eventually, the darkness faded from her eyesight, and she found herself within the confines of a child's room. The pink pillows, the plush, if worn toys, the nightmarish holes in the wall, the blood...

Spotting those last two things flooded Nodoka's heart with dread. She looked around, but nary a soul was to be found, let alone the companions she came to this world with. For some strange reason, the imagery of the room heavily reminded Nodoka of the words, "And then there were none." Probably just too many detective stories, she convinced herself. Nonetheless, she kept her backpack and lone spell book at her side. She quickly began chanting and establishing a spell of defense.

"Hunggrrryyy..." A soft voice moaned.

That small voice might as well have been a thunderclap, considering how badly it spooked the librarian. However, she quickly collected her nerves and looked for the source.

On a chair near the only window in the room, there sat a little girl. Or at least, what appeared to be a little girl. Her face spoke of a dichotomy of wide-eyed innocence and chaotic violence, perhaps to match her blood red dress. Most striking of all was the rainbow colored wings on her back, although they resembled giant crystal lights on a barren Christmas tree more than they did wings. Said girl sighed miserably. "It's been too long since I ate. Why isn't Sakuya here yet? Why why WHY WHY _WHY_?!" In barely contained fury she summoned what looked like a twisted iron snake and slammed it into the ground, causing the whole floor to shake.

Alas, Nodoka wasn't prepared for this show of strength and fell to the floor with an audible "Wah!" The bad luck got even worse when the little girl noticed her.

Her eyes alight with curiosity, the little girl looked to see Nodoka on the floor, staring in a mix of horror and a shared curiosity.

The girl then grinned, showing off vampiric fangs. Nodoka paled.

Without warning, the winged girl flew forward, her face in childish glee. "WAI!" She cried, that bent iron spear raised to strike.

"EEEP!" Nodoka shrieked. Not interested in becoming shish-kabob for a vampire, she immediately activated a teleport spell. The human girl disappeared in a watery flash just moments before the iron spear struck where she was. Reappearing a bit further away, Nodoka backed up nervously but quietly, hoping by some slim chance she would not be detected.

No such luck. The strange vampire girl found her quarry within seconds and lunged again. Nodoka disappeared and reappeared further back into the room. Safe to say, her magic defense wall was definitely working. For how long, she hoped not to test just yet. "P-please don't eat me!"

"Eat you?" The girl blinked, entirely confused, before becoming slightly melancholy. "I don't want to _eat_ you, but Sakuya's not here and I'm _hunnnngrrryyyy_... So stay still!" She let her hand out, and those instant bullets began shooting towards her in waves. This little miss, however, was definitely not a fairy.

The waves were so quick and numerous, the poor librarian froze in terror, even more so when the bullets easily slid by her magic defense system. Nodoka did notice, however, that she miraculously avoided getting hit despite her minimal movement. So those instant bullets are easier to dodge if I move less, she thought. But I can't hold out much longer. If I can get her name...

"Wow, you know how to play danmaku, too?" The vampire girl marveled. "Maybe you can play with me." She twirled around and pointed her iron snake at Nodoka. **"Taboo—Cranberry Trap!"**

"W-we can talk about this, right?!" Nodoka whimpered, but the attack had already begun. All she had to do was flick her eyes left and right to see two red waves streak towards her from opposite directions. The librarian swallowed her fear as much as she could and simply backed up to evade the attack—only to find another wave coming from that direction as well. Seeing why it was a "Cranberry Trap", Nodoka quickly tried to whip up a counter attack. Chanting vigorously, the girl cupped her hands, shoved them downward and blasted a wave of water, sending her sprawling into the air. She dodged the trap, only to crash into the ground.

"Oww..." Nodoka muttered, trying to recover. "Do we really have to?"

"Less talk, more danmaku!" The vampire girl raised that iron staff. **"LAEVATEIN!"** She boomed.

This _can't_ be good. Nodoka scrambled as the vampire girl effortlessly sent huge wave after huge wave of violent magical energy. Nodoka scraped by the attacks only by teleporting to the far ends of each wave. One nearly clipped her torso; she shrieked as the attack shredded a thin section of her clothes and missed her skin by a hair.

Nodoka staggered back, but wasn't worn out yet. Shaking visibly, she gathered energy. With a brilliant watery flash, Nodoka shot a wall of water towards the twisted girl. The vampire scooted back in a panic before whipping out Laevatein and slicing it forward to break the spell. By the time she finished, she found herself facing four Nodokas. "Wai! Four of a Kind! Four of a Kind!" The vampire girl herself began to flash like an after image before three copies of her formed as well. "_Two_ can play that game! Or I should say _eight_!"

Any hope Nodoka had of confusing her quarry was lost as the copies wasted no time launching a furious magic bullet assault. Luckily the Nodoka clones had the same basic magic defense Nodoka did, so they easily warped out of harm's way or launched their own watery counter attacks. For a while, all the real Nodoka could see were a flash of bubbles and red bullets.

Unfortunately, the vampire girl's clones struck first amidst the confusion. Using physical attacks, they easily tore through her water clones before they could react—perhaps mirroring her own fatigue. Playing toe-to-toe with this girl proved to chew up too much energy...

But alas, the vampire girl moved back to physical attacks. In one fluid motion, she snapped back together as one person and charged once more. This time, a swipe from that iron snake clipped Nodoka's arm just slightly before her magic defense kicked in. When Nodoka disappeared and reappeared some distance away, the girl was shocked to see a bleeding gash on her right arm.

The fight stopped that instant, since not even a second later, the vampire girl was happily attached to said arm, drinking away. "Wai! I win!" She cheered as Nodoka was on the verge of fainting. "It's been a while since a human played with me. You're cool! What's your name?"

"R-really?" Nodoka asked the girl, woozy from having her blood drained. Now I know how Negi-sensei AND Ako-san feel! She moaned mentally. But... gazing at the girl, Nodoka changed her mind. She looks so strangely adorable... maybe if I keep her talking, I won't lose too much blood. "U-um I'm Nodoka Miyazaki..."

"Flandre Scarlet! Sister of the great Scarlet Devil!" the young looking vampire girl beamed. "Most of the time I don't see humans because everyone else says I'd blow them up if I saw them. But that's not true. I like blowing things up, but not humans!"

"I... see..." Nodoka smiled nervously, not sure how this Flandre had perfected being cute and horrifying at the same time to an art form. "You said you haven't seen many humans in a long time, right?"

"Yeah, I haven't seen too many new people now," the vampire girl began to think back to people unknown to Nodoka. "Last time I saw a human other than Sakuya was two years ago...There were two of them, and they always stuck together."

Nodoka's thoughts drifted back to Konoka and Setsuna. "You know, I once knew two people like that, too..."

* * *

Kinsha Sakurazaki gaver her mistress a look of concern.

After meeting with that teenage teacher, Negi Springfield, the Empress had seemed more excited than usual. Now, a day or so later, it seemed the sugar had run low.

She had been quite still for the better part of an hour already. Except for the occasional yawn, she lounged in her throne, staring at the sky with half-glazed eyes.

Dipping her brush in her inkpot yet again, Kinsha dropped her eyes for the necessary few seconds it took to continue the short letter she had been assigned to write. Then, she returned to observing her mistress with a soft sigh.

Suddenly, the Empress' eyes snapped open. She jumped to her feet and swept the throne room with a quick glance. Her eyes seemed to burn with a feverish intensity.

Then, she whined, "Set-chan! I want cake! Come with me to get cake!"

Kinsha stifled an uncharacteristic giggle and composed herself. As the mistress called for her friend again, Kinsha said, "Sakurazaki-sama is not here right now. She left on important business."

She crossed her arms and frowned.

"Aww, that's not fair, Set-chan. Leaving me all alone."

For a second, the Sakurazaki clan woman thought that she would give up, but then a thought seemed to come to her. "That's it!" she declared, "I've decided. Little swan, you're coming with me."

Silence met her command, but the mistress didn't let it deter her.

"Aww, brighten up," she told the other, yet unseen party, "It's cake! Nothing can be wrong with life when you have cake!"

The mistress swept out of the throne room with her usual grace. Before the door completely closed, Kinsha thought she saw a shadow detach itself from the wall and slip through the cracks. Then, the door closed with a soft thud.

Must've been my imagination.

She went back to finishing off the letter, putting the mistress's dictation to paper:

_So in conclusion, come see me soon Takahata-sensei! Let's have cake!_

_-Konoka Konoe_

888

(Seraph: I don't know which one was the most fun to write. Battle one, battle two, battle three, or the little snippet at the end. That doesn't really matter. What matters is that you, reader, have been sticking with us for 5 releases (including the prologue). I congratulate you. Now join Konoka for some cake while we watch Negi and friends struggle to make the best out of a bad situation, or in Asuna's case, wring information out of anyone who has it.

Ansem: Even I don't know why our Empress is demanding cake, but I wonder just what kind of new friend she's got. Are all sugary sweet dictators afficionados of cake? Find out later!)


	6. Chapter 5

**When Light Descends to Madness**

**Chapter 5**

Negi slowly came to, and as Ako's face focused into his vision, he realized he was once again in her lap. "Hey," She said softly as his eyes fully opened.

"Ako-chan... you're okay?" he asked.

"That would be my question to you!" Ako said, a bit more hotly and worriedly than she wanted.

"Ah... sorry," Negi answered, par the course for awkward moments.

"Yo!" Negi and Ako found the awkwardness ruined in style by the girl with the witch's hat. She had taken off her hat and put it on the table they were seated around. Witch Hat smiled and waved at them. Negi lifted his head out of Ako's lap and gave his surroundings a cursory look around. He gathered that he was in a room and that his Asuna and Ako were with him as well as his two attackers. A third girl dressed in what appeared to be the garb of a priestess had joined them but he didn't know who she was. He had never seen her before.

He was brought back into the fold when Witch Hat began talking. "Glad for ya to join us in the land of the living!" she said, "Would've been no fun to have to fish you out at Yuyuko's."

"Not like we'd need to go to that place anytime soon. That ghost has gotten so gluttonous lately she can't even tell friend from food," the priestess groused.

"I would appreciate kinder words when referring to my best friend," said Yukari, Youkai of Borders. She gave a pleasant smile, but the air suddenly grew thick with a dark, chaotic aura. Priestess merely leered back while Witch Hat chuckled nervously, but the three visitors could only watch the spectacle with confusion and uneasiness.

Witch Hat broke the mood first. She gave Negi a wink and said, "Really though, that was pitiful, ze."

"Ze? Pitiful?"

"That danmaku battle was on the level of… of… well…" The Witch Hat groped for words.

"Let's say that even Cirno could've trumped you," Priestess cut in.

"Hey, Cirno's not _that_ bad!"

"Wait, wait, wait, hold it," Asuna raised a hand, interrupting the game of 'insult Negi.' "Before we get into that, you guys have to tell me how the hell you use magic so fast. Even Negi-brat has to chant most of his spells before he can use them!"

Witch Hat rose suddenly and slapped her hand down on the table. "Just as I thought! This kid has horrible danmaku, you know? You've really _never even heard of it?_"

Negi, Asuna, and Ako all shook their heads.

"We'll get to that," Priestess cut in once again.

At this point, Negi was about to burst with questions. Considering that he was in an entirely new world, the locals were tossing names he wasn't familiar with and he was still missing more than half of his friends, he felt that he was entitled to at least one question. So, while being as polite but as loud as possible, Negi asked, "So this is Gensokyo, yes?"

"Ara, ara, aren't you eager?" Yukari made a small show of pulling a fan from one of her convenient gaps and started fanning herself before continuing on. "Indeed, this is Gensokyo. Since you were at the Hakurei Shrine on the other side of the border, it looks like you were searching for this place."

"Yeah, we were," Negi affirmed.

"Hmm, they probably aren't looking for a fight, because if they were, they'd just be coming here to die," Witch Hat put it bluntly.

"The other two humans didn't die."

This caught Negi's attention.

"You mentioned that some friends of ours came through here?"

"Ahem." Priestess clapped her hands for attention. "Before we continue this splendid little conversation, there's something important we need to do."

"Have you make us tea?"

"No."

"Rice crackers?"

"No."

"How 'bout just plain crackers then?"

"How 'bout no?"

"Tea then?"

"Mm, that would be… Hey! I already said no to that! I… just… _no_!"

Yukari giggled behind a fan she pulled out from her ever convenient gaps.

Reimu stood with a sigh of exasperation. "Where are your manners? Introductions people! How would you feel if two uninvited guests brought their friends to your place, threatening to eat you out of fridge and home?"

The visitors and inhabitants shared looks.

"Uh… not threatened?" Negi suggested. "After all, it used to happen all the time back where we came from."

"Too true," Asuna agreed. However, something crossed her mind. She immediately whirled on the priestess and shouted, "Hey, you don't have fridges here. That's an anachronism!"

"The weirdest things pop up here in Gensokyo," Witch Hat grinned.

Priestess threw up her hands. "Ugh, forget I asked."

"Aww, come on Reimu-chan, be truthful. You like it when I'm here."

"Don't insinuate happy things between me and you. When you're involved, everything gets worse." The priestess stood up and sighed before facing the visitors. "I might as well start. I am Reimu Hakurei, shrine maiden of the Hakurei Shrine and main shrine maiden of Gensokyo." She swept a half-hearted bow.

So it was "shrine maiden" and not "priestess" after all, Negi mentally corrected.

"Marisa Kirisame, Ordinary Magician." The witch snatched her hat off the table and bowed slightly, hat over chest.

"Ha, if she's Ordinary, who's Peculiar?" Asuna muttered under her breath.

"You're already familiar with me," Yukari grinned, making the visiting humans shiver.

Negi stood up and bowed as well, "Negi Springfield. I... don't have a subtitle yet." He added that last line with a meek chuckle.

"I'm Ako Izumi, Negi's girlfriend," the white-haired girl smiled.

"Asuna Kagurazaka." The redhead of the group didn't bother saying anything else and simply stood firm.

As if those introductions were a form of soothing relief, the shrine maiden gave an almost blissful smile and sighed, "That's a bit better. Now, Negi, is it?"

"Yes?"

"How long do you think you'll be here?"

"In Gensokyo?"

"In _my house_."

"Uh… this is your house?"

Reimu's eye twitched. "That's why I hate unconscious people."

"You mean being unconscious?"

"No," she shot down Ako's suggestion bluntly, "that's never happened before."

"So, where are we?" Negi asked.

"No other place than the Hakurei Shrine, ze."

"Ah." Yukari asked idly, "When did it get repaired?"

"After that idiot Tenshi knocked it down."

"Who?"

"Nevermind."

A silence hung between the conversationalists like a transparent curtain. They had been speaking for so long, but Negi had forgotten that both parties came from completely different backgrounds, nay, different worlds. Their past experiences differed too much for them to be able to completely understand each other.

Then, Ako decided to take the initiative. "So why did you want to do introductions so badly?"

"Reimu's still recovering from an anxiety disorder, ze." Marisa chimed in an answer.

"Anxiety disorder? Great, you try to satisfy the formalities and they turn it against you."

Reimu put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes.

"No tea?"

"No."

"Rice crackers?"

"We've had this conversation already, and the answer is still no. Anyways, I was just curious about these people taking advantage of my hospitality," Reimu explained herself. "For all I know, they could have been invaders."

Marisa propped up her head with a hand and grinned. "If they were Youkai, you'd have killed them already instead asking for their names."

"Yeah, yeah, either way, I just want to get this over with. I was sleeping, you know?"

"What's with you people and sleep?" Ako blinked in confusion.

"Live a few thousand years and see what else there is to do," Yukari answered, shading her face.

"Speak for yourself, Yukari. I'm still young," Reimu countered.

"But we ain't getting any younger," Asuna cut into the Gensokyo residents' witty banter. "So could you please tell us about danmaku? More specifically, how not to get completely destroyed by it?"

There was actually a bit of a pause to this rather straightforward question, but since the residents of Gensokyo were moving towards this conversation anyway, they moved forward with it. "Danmaku... the game of spellcards," Marisa began. "It's the way we settle fights here in Gensokyo."

"It was developed by yours truly," Reimu added, placing a hand on her chest for emphasis, "as a means of making sure people could settle their grievances without wanton destruction."

"You crafted the rules of danmaku?" Negi asked, clapping in amazement. "Wow..." Then, to himself, he added, "Uh… what's danmaku?"

Asuna pointed a quivering finger at the shrine maiden. "If you made danmaku, then surely you can tell us how you use it!"

"Yes, please do!" Ako added.

"_Patience_."

Reimu pulled out what appeared to be a wooden rod with paper streams attached. "Danmaku is the great equalizer, allowing even the weakest of Youkai to contend with the strongest in a fair match."

Yukari snorted.

"Well, the word fair depends on your point of view."

Yukari snorted again. "That's understating it."

"Hush, you," Reimu reprimanded. She turned back to the visitors. "Anyway, the game of danmaku is the act of showing your power between beauty, thought, and reason. It is split into two parts—one part spell cards, one part danmaku itself.

"The Spell Cards," Reimu pulled one out as an example, "represent your strongest spells." Negi recognized it as the same type of card Yukari had pulled out during their battle earlier. "If you run out of these in a true game of danmaku, you lose, no matter how much strength you have left."

Negi and Ako nodded, taking in all this knowledge. Asuna looked slightly irritated, but set that aside since she had not yet known how it worked.

"You guys aren't half bad with the spells part," Yukari observed. "If you fashioned them into spell cards you might have a chance."

"But how come you suck _so bad_ at danmaku, ze?" Marisa asked.

"We might not suck _so bad_ if we knew how to do it!" Asuna retorted hotly.

Strangely enough, rather than escalate the verbal battle, Marisa simply laughed. When she noticed the otherworldly humans' nonplussed stares, she calmed down a bit. "All right, I'll let you in on a secret. Danmaku, the magic you guys find so instant, ain't just instant magic, ze. Unless you reach beyond Yukari's level, the key to pulling shots like that is having your own focus points!"

"Huh?" All three visitors tilted their heads in unified confusion.

"What do you mean?" Negi asked.

"Let's make it easy," Marisa stood up, and as quick as lightning, grabbed one of Reimu's sleeves and took what looked like a longer but flimsier version of a card. "Reimu's ofuda, ze. That's her danmaku. She can focus on them and throw them faster than you guys can chant your spells."

"Taking stuff without permission," Reimu hissed as if Marisa had violated more than her personal space. "That's why Patchouli calls you a thief."

Marisa stuck out her tongue at Reimu. "Anyway, if you have plenty of projectiles, you can start danmaku with 'em!"

"Hmm," Negi began to think over these new facts. "Thanks, but that doesn't solve how the fairies we fought earlier managed to shoot so fast, too..."

"You fought fairies earlier? Like in your world?" Marisa blinked.

"Yes we did."

"Fairies sometimes do scouting work for powerful or charismatic Youkai." Yukari suddenly added. "I use them too, but I doubt that group was working for me."

"Hmm... _weeelll_ fairies seem to just perpetually focus on blasting foes down with magic," Marisa shrugged. "'Guess that's why they're chumps. On the other hand, _I_ use various magical artifacts to help me shower danmaku, because I'm _awesome_ like that." She pulled out a wooden block with an octagonal shape and placed it on the table. "This is the Hakkero, a wonderful device I use to unleash the awesome spell Master Spark."

Negi grimaced, remembering the power of that spell. His closest equivalent was Thunder Gale, a spell he hadn't used in at least two years. "Hmm, if it takes some focusing and magic artifacts, then I could possibly use an artifact myself to augment my magic and use danmaku..."

"Easy for you to say, that doesn't help me at all," Asuna groused.

"Well, what exactly do you do?" Marisa asked.

"Uh… chop things up? Slice and dice?" Asuna offered. She got blank stares.

Marisa's stomach gurgled a bit. "You cook?"

"Not at all," Negi took the initiative with a wry smile.

"Shut up, Negi." Asuna glared at him.

Yukari explained flamboyantly, "She swings her little stick around pretending to be of use to the little boy."

Marisa blanched. "Uh… doesn't that mean… physical combat?"

"Well, Miss Resident-Danmaku-Expert, what have you to say to that?" Reimu teased.

Marisa threw up her hands. "Sorry then, Asuna, can't help you."

"What?!" the girl exclaimed. "That's not fair!"

"Life isn't…" Yukari began but Reimu glared.

"Don't even start."

"Well?" Asuna demanded of Marisa.

The witch shrugged. "I'm not much of a close combat person. Maybe someone else can help you."

"Who?"

"I don't know… who fights close combat?" Marisa asked, looking between Reimu and Yukari. "China?"

"Uh… who?" Yet more names flew over Negi's head.

"What about the netherworld halfling?" Yukari suggested, ignoring Negi.

"Youmu, ze?"

"Yeah, Yuyuko's servant. She makes some good tea. Not as good as Sakuya, but better than yours, Reimu-chan."

Reimu sighed, "This is why I never invite you over."

"What about me then?" Ako chimed in. "Am I capable of learning danmaku?"

The three Gensokyo residents peered at Ako as if she had just appeared in a swimsuit contest. After exchanging looks, Marisa looked back at Ako. "So what do you do then?"

Ako's cheeks flushed, but she stood strong. "I'm just an ordinary girl, but my p-p-p-pactio with Negi summons a guitar I named Nyx's Needle. I-i-it allows me to sing. And use medicine."

"Singing?" Reimu asked.

"Can't help you either," Marisa had to bite back a giggle.

"So much for being a resident danmaku expert."

"Oy, ze!"

"Well, there's a night sparrow who also sings while attacking…"

"Playing you mean," Reimu and Marisa corrected in unison.

"Playing, attacking, same thing," Yukari shrugged, "but she's not entirely friendly to humans. _Maybe_ if you persuade her, she might help you out."

"So yeah," Marisa turned back to Asuna, "Youmu might be able to help _you_. She was able to help that other that girl that came here awhile back. Was it three years ago now?"

That caught Negi, Ako, and Asuna's gathered attention. Marisa scooted back a few feet at the intensity of their stares.

"So you really are looking for those two then," Yukari thought aloud.

"If you have any information, any at all…" Negi bowed down as low as the table would let him, and Ako followed suit. Asuna looked embarrassed, but even she bobbed her head.

Reimu looked them over once and then gave another sigh. "I'm tired of sighing. For the sake of getting this whole thing over with, I guess I'll try to help."

"Thank you," Negi said, "We really appreciate it."

Reimu gave him a rare smile and then began. "Those two..." Reimu thought back to three years ago. "The princess and the half-crow. Those two were a strange pair, before and after they left."

"Yeah," Marisa agreed. She turned to Yukari. "Didn't ya say they hung around the shrine on the other world for about three days before they even realized it led to here?"

"Hmm, I do remember something like that," Yukari answered slowly.

"What were they like?" Asuna asked, almost sounding over eager.

"They were quite absorbed in each other, like their closeness was the only thing they had," The Border Youkai answered. However, she suddenly grew her usual trademark wicked grin. "But why are we so eager to learn about your old friends? It's almost like you're sniffing out gossip."

Negi looked up grimly. "The person who returned to our world from Gensokyo was only a shell of the Konoka Konoe I... no, _we_ knew. She said she was in this world for three years, and we want to know just what changed her into..."

"...a monster?" Yukari finished. "You think Gensokyo made her into some _monster_?" The usually playful woman lost that air. The black aura she had shown earlier had begun to creep back, and the visitors swallowed hard. Despite this, they merely steeled themselves.

Seeing that, though, Yukari dropped the vicious aura, but remained serious. "Gensokyo is not a nice place, that much I'll admit." She shot Reimu a mischievous look, which got an irritated stare in return. Yukari ignored her reaction and went back to the guests. "Even so, this place did not, _does not_ have what it took for that girl to change her personality. She probably had it in her heart for the longest time. No, what Gensokyo did was make her _grow up_."

This wasn't anything they expected. "W-what do you mean?" Ako asked.

"Ehh, when she first came here," Reimu suddenly spoke up, and all eyes fell on her. The shrine maiden lay sidewaseon the ground, casually recalling Konoka as she would an amusing anecdote. "She was quite kindhearted and ditzy—a bit shaken up, but other than that, just some clueless princess and her serious business bodyguard. They lived here for a while..."

Marisa noticed Reimu's slight annoyance, much to her amusement. "Yeah, I remember you complaining about them eating up all of your food! And the time she claimed you had the hots for your donation box! Ahahaha!"

Reimu slapped a slip of paper at Marisa which stayed glued to the girl's mouth despite her efforts to remove it.

Subtly, Yukari commanded everyone's attention with a twirl of her fan. "But you forget what happened when Reimu began fighting Youkai."

"Huh?" Reimu raised an eyebrow. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"I remember dropping by one day to see how dear Reimu was recovering from Tenshi's attack, just before she needed to head underground. I actually wound up seeing that little girl in a heated argument with Reimu."

"Heated argument?" Asuna blinked. "In all the years I've known Konoka she's never really had enough anger to..."

"It seems the mention of Youkai extermination put the girl on edge, especially since her bodyguard was half crow," Yukari said. "It seems Reimu's acts of killing Youkai is why they don't get along with humans."

"She was way too naïve," Reimu waved off the accusation. "If Youkai cause trouble, I kill them. That's my _job_. Otherwise they terrorize humans and defenseless creatures as they like. Yet this girl said what I was doing was just causing resentment between humans and Youkai. I finally managed to convince her that this place wasn't all hatred between Youkai and humanity... but I don't think she really let it go, you know?"

"As I said before," Yukari added in a rather singsong voice, "It had to do with the half-crow."

"Her name is _Setsuna_," Asuna said in barely contained anger.

"Ah..." Yukari definitely noticed this. "You must've been very good friends."

"Damn straight."

"But perhaps that girlie was onto something, Reimu..." Yukari added. "There may not be outright war and hate between humans and Youkai here, but there was... is, certainly tension. A tension that little princess surely felt and did not like."

Marisa nodded, slip of paper gone from her mouth. "You're just used to it because you're always surrounded by Youkai. The weak ones die by your hand and the strong ones challenge you to duels. That, and some of the Youkai are friends with you, but unlike you, I can't trump most Youkai," Marisa spoke with a slightly bitter tone. "Usually, most people fear you enough to avoid you."

"Geez, thanks."

Marisa laughed. "At least humans have enough of a survival instinct to not try and start a fight Youkai stronger than them. Or even smarter, just run."

"I've never run, and I don't think you have either, Marisa. After all, a good number of smarter ones do business with humans, right?"

"Hehe, maybe I should have said normal humans, ze."

"Anyways," Yukari interrupted, "the half-crow was always stressed out about her princess. When they came back, it was the first time that girl looked anything other than serious."

Reimu scoffed. "Yeah, it was called 'minutely less serious.'"

"No," Negi corrected, stopping the bickering instantly. "...it was pride. Self pride."

"Whatever you say," she shrugged. "Now, is our discussion done, or…?"

Ako raised her hand. "I have a question."

"What is it?" Reimu glared, "and make it quick."

The quiet girl gulped, but spoke up nonetheless. "How did we get here? How do we get out? What about our other friends?"

The group looked at her in shock at the flurry of words that had come out of her mouth. However, there was no chance to respond because the door to the shrine suddenly burst open and a voice boomed, "Reimu-chan, I'm back!"

A short girl, little more than a child, stood in the doorway holding a box that was at least half her size. Aside from the large box and the fact that she swayed on her feet, she seemed perfectly normal… except for the horns sticking out of her head.

"Oh, Suika. How was the trip?"

Negi blinked. One second, Reimu had been lounging on the floor. The next, she was at the door, practically bouncing on her feet. The little girl grinned and handed Reimu the box. The shrine maiden took it eagerly and gave it an energetic shake. At the sound of jingling, she smiled widely. Her eagerness was completely different from the apathy she had shown before, almost as if she was another person.

Reimu peered into the box from a slit on the top, and then she cheered, "Yes!"

"Wha…?" Negi began, but Marisa and Yukari shook their heads.

"Don't ask."

Asuna folded her arms. "Please explain."

The two shared a look before responding in unison: "Donations."

--

(Seraph: Lots of talking. Lots and lots of talking. But it was fun to write the dialogue. Or maybe the fun part was the experimenting. If the whole thing seemed like an infodump, then congratulations you got it right. If it was boring, then sorry, Konoka will now come to reap your soul. Either way, I hope you got a kick out of the interchange and characterization, because there will be more of that coming.  
By the way, sorry to those new to Touhou. Hopefully we did Yukari, Marisa, and Reimu justice (in order of appearance, ha, ha). Enjoy your week. There'll be more madness in the next.

Ansem: Haha, MADNESS you say. THIS. IS. **GENSOKYO**. This might also be our single longest scene so far. Stick tight, we'll find the others soon! Tune in next week!)


	7. Chapter 6

**When Light Descends to Madness**

**Chapter 6**

The sun was sinking in the sky, and Yue already didn't like her surroundings.

Emerging from the darkness that had sucked her up would be strange enough as it was. But to emerge into an unsettling bamboo forest was even stranger, and it didn't sit well with the purple-haired girl at all. With the sun setting, she figured wherever she was it would not be pleasant at night. Already she could hear the murmuring of the forest nightlife.

Her steps quickened. Realizing this, however, meant that she was succumbing to panic. Even in this place, I have to remain calm...

A sudden noise caught Yue's attention, like the crunching of leaves. She whirled around, but of course saw nothing. "Already overreacting," she thought out loud, still walking backwards. Unfortunately, her foot caught something, and she tripped.

"Ack!"

Yue landed hard on her back with a loud thump. The disturbance seemed to catch the attention of... someone.

"Hmmm?"

The voice came from above. Groaning, Yue looked up, and came face-to-face with a rabbit girl.

Now, something in her mind told her that this girl was much older than she first appeared, despite her young face and shiny black hair. Reinforcing her suspicion, the girl's pink dress looked a good deal more ghostly than it should have, considering the fading sunlight. Yue's examination ended when the rabbit girl said, "Patchouli? You're here early."

"Huh? Who's that?" Yue blinked.

"You're not fooling me, Patchouli. Trying to look young," the rabbit girl taunted with a massive grin.

"Whoever that is, I'm not her," Yue insisted. "I don't even know where I am."

"That's easy for you to say," the rabbit girl regarded the young mage with unbridled curiosity. "But then again, you look genuinely lost. And Patchy's not the type for games."

Yue gave a mental sigh of relief that this... 'Patchouli' gimmick seemed to be gone. At least for now.

"I can show you the way out if you wish, or you can come with me back to my home." The rabbit girl twirled around, pale dress making a circle. Yue had that edgy feeling that the rabbit was up to some mischief or another, but there was little she could do—the ball was in the rabbit's court, so to speak. At the same time though, this rabbit could prove to have useful information.

"If you don't mind, I'll follow you home," Yue said, standing up and dusting herself off.

"Hehe." The rabbit girl hopped up and began to walk to Yue's left. "Even if you aren't Patchouli, you sure seem to crave knowledge just like she does."

"Really," Yue remarked in a droll fashion as she followed this mysterious rabbit girl.

"At least at first glance."

As they journeyed through the woods in silence, Yue asked the eternal question: Are we there yet? It seemed like the rabbit was just frolicking around the forest rather than guiding her to any one location. The same uneasy feeling when she had woken had never really left, so she asked, "How far is it?"

"We'll reach it soon," the rabbit answered, leaning forward towards her.

They walked in silence for a bit longer. Yue regressed back into her thoughts. I hope the others are okay... but the question is, how did we get separated in the first place? There was all that swirling darkness...

She was at a loss. If only she had some more information…

She shook her head. Enough about that. Maybe I just need to figure out this girl.

Yue snapped back into the real world, however, just in time to narrowly avoid crashing into the rabbit girl, who had come to a stop.

"This is the house of Eientei," she proclaimed. "Amazing isn't it?"

Indeed, Yue could only stand in awe. The massive, Japanese-styled mansion stood much like a gigantic Rip Van Winkle, as if remaining ageless deep within that forest. No light reached here, even though they hadn't been walking for very long, and she was certain the evening sun remained. Instead, the mansion itself shined brightly much like a lantern.

"Whoa... truly amazing." Yue breathed. She saw the rabbit girl about to head inside—amongst a string of very similar looking girls. Still, she stood out among the crowd. Yue caught up to the girl with a cry of, "Wait!" She reached out, but before her fingers touched the girl's shoulder, the girl turned around with an expression of interest. Yue's hand faltered at the sharp, fierce eyes that stared her down. She let her hand drop and said, "Please, wait one second."

"Huh?"

"I never said thanks for guiding me here. Thank you."

"Welcome."

There was a tense, short silence, and then Yue asked, "By the way... what's your name?"

"Tewi (pronounced Tei) Inaba. Wandering soul and leader of the Earth rabbits."

The girl gave a curtsy and a wink, before suddenly, Yue found her world flipped. She dangled upside down from a length of rope fastened around a tree branch, a loop of the rope wrapped around Yue's ankle.

A rabbit snare?

Tewi had disappeared leaving no one to help her but herself.

With a wave from her wand, the rope was cut cleanly in half. Only too late did she realize that she was hanging a body's length above the ground. With a cry of dismay, she fell with a crash. She just couldn't figure this girl out. One moment she was a silent guide, the next, a lady, and the next, a prankster.

"And now she leaves me here, all alone," she grumbled.

Except she wasn't alone.

As she got up, she realized that there were rabbits everywhere. She wasn't sure if they counted as people, but they were there nonetheless. Many of them regarded her with idle curiosity, but most ignored her. Perhaps it was because Tewi had led her here, so obviously she couldn't hurt anyone, right? Not that she would.

Yue stood, just taking in the sights. Massive really was a good word to describe the place, she decided. To all sides except behind, there were doors. The doors were all made of paper, the light shining from the rooms giving them a slightly translucent look. Some stood open, admitting entrance and exit to the rabbits.

Speaking of the rabbits, Yue shifted over her attention to them. There was certainly something different about them. Several somethings, in fact. For one something, they all stood and walked like humans, on two legs. For another, they all wore clothes. In fact, if it weren't for the rabbit ears sticking out from their hair – they had hair, hair as in hair on head, hair – Yue could have mistaken them for humans... albeit humans with rabbit ears, but humans nonetheless. She cupped her chin in contemplation, and pondered this twisted reality.

She had only just decided that she would have to accept the fact and get over it like she had done with magic when something happened. Suddenly, she realized that all of the rabbits had disappeared. Not all at once, but apparently she had been so lost in thought that she hadn't notice them trickling away into alleys and behind doors. A feeling gripped her, one that told her that something was wrong.

All the doors stood closed. Not a voice whispered in the sudden silence. The light of the mansion continued to glow around her, but there were no shadows to match the light. She looked down. It seemed she was the only exception, because her shadow was still there, intact and as normal as something could be in a strange place.

Yue shivered. It was very eerie standing in the middle of a deserted path.

But something tugged at her. It wasn't a physical tug like pulling on string or rope. It was more like a wordless call, or a command she had to obey. Suddenly, she wasn't so sure she should have followed Tewi to the domain of an unseen master. Whoever the lord here was, Yue knew it wasn't Tewi.

Her feet began to move, to take her where she needed to go. With a determined resignation, she let herself be guided under an archway, into and then out of a garden, and then up a short flight of stairs. She would save her strength for now. There was no point resisting when she didn't even know who she should resist against.

Yue's feet led her to a long hallway. Room after room lined her left. Windows were cut into the wall to her right at locations directly opposite the portals leading into the rooms. It was a strange design, Yue thought, and apparently she was only getting a short tour of a place much grander than anything she could imagine. Even if it was something she could imagine, she felt impressed.

Finally, she slowed to a stop in front of a paper door three times as long as it was tall, and it was already at least twice as tall as Yue's own meager height. Deducing from the fact that she now had control over her limbs, she had reached her destination. Her tour guide had apparently gotten bored and left.

Good riddance, she told its retreating figure.

There was almost a baited silence as Yue grasped the tall door and slid it away. Her eyes met a surprising sight—there was but a single kotatsu in the room, occupied by a single person. No grand sweeping throne room, no elaborate bath, just a simple but large and comfortable room. However, the person resting in the middle of this scene took Yue's attention.

Yue couldn't help but be reminded of the very person she had come to this world to find. While she hadn't seen her former classmate in three years, she still had a clear picture of Konoka in her mind, and this woman resembled her. Or she should say, Konoka resembled this woman?

There was more to her than her long, flowing black hair, and the flowing robe she wore. There was a certain eternal quality to her eyes, as if she had seen—and would see—the endless flow of time. It was as if she had seen everything that had happened, and would continue to see forever. Speaking of which, those eyes were locked onto her. Yue didn't like it, and took a step back. Was this woman a hunter, and she the prey?

Then, the woman said something completely unexpected.

"...Patchouli?" she ventured.

Not _again_. "But I'm not a Patchouli," Yue insisted. "I'm Ayase, Yue. I solemnly swear I have no idea how I got here."

The woman smiled a smile that Yue immediately didn't like. There was a knowing quality to it, like the woman could see through every part of her. It made her feel vulnerable, and more uneasy than she already was.

"Sorry," the woman said with a tone that was anything but apologetic, "I was just teasing. After all, I know my guests inside and out."

"Since you called me here, does that mean I'm your guest?"

"You have a quick brain, Ayase Yue," she complimented. "Ayase Yue," she repeated, "what a wonderful sound that makes. Almost like… _home_."

Yue kept her expression perfectly neutral. If she had to use one word to describe the master of the mansion, she would have to resort to two: borderline insane. As she thought this, the woman's dark brown eyes seemed to glow with fire. The light of her eyes reflected the quality of the mansion's lights, as if it had no source, but simply existed. The only difference between the two was that the light of her eyes glowed red. But it was not like blood.

"Ayase Yue. Do you believe that there is power in names?" she asked almost idly.

Slowly, Yue nodded. She had certainly heard that before.

"Then show your conviction and do not be surprised."

Before Yue had a chance to reply, the woman began to speak in a flat tone. "Ayase Yue, this is Gensokyo. It is a world in a dimension completely different from your own. In your readings, you may have come across the term 'pocket dimension.' That would be a close, but not completely accurate description of Gensokyo."

The woman stood. "My name is Kaguya Houraisan, and I am the master of Eientei, the House of Eternity. More than that, you do not need to know. Hold your questions for now."

Yue clamped her mouth shut. The action was partly of her will and partly of the will of another being, but the fact that someone was controlling her did not seem to matter at the moment. This woman, Kaguya, was either reading her mind, or had some power over her that she couldn't understand. The evidence pointed to the latter, but since her questions were being answered one by one, she fought off her feeling of vulnerability and just listened.

"What you need to know lies in my bank of knowledge. For example, I know that you entered this world with a mage, his girlfriend, a magic canceller, a vampire, her robot, and the most normal of them all, a librarian. I also happen to know where they are right now, and…"

She trailed off, leaving a suspenseful silence hanging between them, regaining her seat.

Finally, just when Yue felt like she was going to burst, she finished, "I know of the two you are searching for: Konoe Konoka and Sakurazaki Setsuna."

Yue caught her breath. Was this fate's way of apologizing for her misery and confusion?

Kaguya's voice dropped to a whisper. "How do I know all this?" She leaned forward over the table, and breathed, "_I have your true name_."

Suddenly, she straightened and said, "Thank you for listening. Now let's have tea and play some Go."

"Wait, _what_?"

"I won't let you resist," she cajoled. "Not that you _can_."

Yue realized suddenly that she was already seated in front of the table – had already been seated since before the woman had revealed her seemingly infinite knowledge. Still, she wasn't going to give up without a fight. "What about Konoka-san and Setsuna-san?

"I wasn't on good terms with the Konoe girl. Truth be told, I could care less about what's happened to her. Now play a game with me. Life gets incredibly boring when everyone who comes visiting either gets lost or ends up challenging me to a fight."

Yue gaped. Kaguya seemed to like her reaction, offering her a smile as a consolation prize. Then, she gestured to the Go board and the bowls filled with the black and white playing pieces that had appeared quite suddenly between them. She had caught only a glimmer.

"Not satisfied? Well, I guess playing Go is like war. It's all about strategy."

She gestured and Yue's hand moved against her will. Her hand dipped into the bowl filled with black pieces, and withdrew a single, gleaming black gem.

"Hmm... what about this?" Kaguya stated simply. "If you win, you get your freedom and my vast abilities at your disposal?"

A sinking feeling overcame Yue, but still she asked, "And if you win?"

"How about let's go with cliché of enslaving you? Sounds amusing, and maybe the rabbits would like you."

It was all Yue could do from sweating buckets on the spot, but she decided that the best way to survive this cruel mind violation was to simply play along.

"I'm completely at your mercy regardless of what I do."

And so the game began. Piece by piece, Yue and this strange woman made their moves. However, Yue immediately saw a problem—Kaguya simply topped her in experience. She felt like she'd have better luck against Evangeline, and rumor had it that Evangeline was a brutal Go player. It didn't help that she was not much more than a novice at this game, despite it being native to her country. Most of her experience came from manuals. Anything outside of manuals came from watching others play or in passing mention. In both she showed a passionate disinterest.

As she watched her pieces slowly lose ground, she knew that defeat was imminent, and each piece signified another few seconds of her freedom stolen. No, I lost the moment I arrived here in Gensokyo, she corrected.

Still, though slavery was no longer only a prospect, it was better to go down fighting than to stand by passively. As she put another glimmering, black piece onto the wooden board with a click, she said, "What do you mean by true name? I've never heard of magic using names."

"So magic _did_ survive…" Kaguya muttered as if talking to herself. For a second, she seemed to be lost in thought, her hand frozen in the act of placing her piece. Yue barely breathed, more focused on the game than the conversation. She had seen a move that might turn the tide in her favor. All she needed was for Kaguya to do exactly what it looked like she meant to do: counter Yue's piece.

"To answer your question," Kaguya said, placing her piece in a different spot, "in summoning magic, the magician needs the name of the demon he wishes to call forth. For that, he needs the demon's true name, right?"

Yue nodded absentmindedly. A wave of disappointment flooded her. Now she was back on the defensive, more harried than ever. Her move had cost her. Bitter regret hollowed out her stomach, but that was nothing when Kaguya added, "What are you doing, Ayase Yue? That's the game."

Yue felt her stomach churn at the bright smile Kaguya gave her.

"Well, been a very long time since I last fought a normal human in Go. Not bad at all, for someone who couldn't do anything but lose. Yet it _is_ my victory, so… enslavement it is."

"It… is…?" she asked, hoping it were not true.

Kaguya nodded emphatically.

Yue sighed. "S-so it seems." She forced down a sense of dread and doom and swallowed hard, but kept her face carefully neutral. "Now... what exactly does my enslavement entail?" she ventured.

"Ah, as my eternal guest, you get to play games and have tea with me," her new master answered as if discussing the weather. "The rabbits are perpetually busy and Eirin is no fun. Although..." she trailed off. There was a second's pause before she continued in a slower tone, as if sounding out her words, "It would be rude of me to keep you to myself."

Yue didn't like where this was going.

"Reisen!"

Yue blinked. Kaguya had spoken somewhat louder than normal, but definitely not loud enough to constitute shouting. She turned around to look outside the door she had come through. It was still open, and the buildings she could see, still deserted. There were no living creatures. Even in the tall, tall trees that surrounded the mansion, were part of the mansion, nothing stirred.

A dull tapping came to her ears, but Yue didn't turn around. Her whole attention was captured by the view, and she knew what she would see if she turned around. Kaguya drumming her fingers on the table.

Apparently Kaguya's impatience reached its limit, because she called once again, "Reisen."

If it was possible, her voice seemed to drop even lower in volume, but it resonated with a power that Yue could feel. The power gripped her cheek and pulled her back around to face Kaguya. When she did, she received a shock.

A girl dressed in a black suit and a white skirt stood next to Kaguya, but Yue hadn't seen anyone come in through the door. It was mystifying how she had gotten in without Yue spotting her, but one thing the events of the recent past had taught her was that nothing was what it seemed in Gensokyo.

The girl was apologizing frantically to Kaguya, bobbing her head rapidly. Something caught Yue's eyes. This girl had rabbit ears as well; she was a rabbit, maybe like Tewi. They bobbed in tandem with the girl's flowing pink hair that reached all the way down to her waist. However, unlike the other rabbits, she stood much taller, and her rabbit ears far thinner.

"That's enough, Reisen. You're making our guest uncomfortable."

"Guest, Lady Kaguya?" the rabbit girl inquired. Her confused eyes swept the room until they met Yue's, and widened in surprise. "Oh. Should I get some tea?"

"Yes, that would be nice. Fetch Eirin too, will you?"

"Uh… Master's currently in… conference right now," Reisen replied uneasily.

"Is it about the maid? Please ask Eirin to move the conference in here then." Kaguya turned to look at her. "Our guest, I'm sure, would like to hear the details."

Somehow, the moment Kaguya said that, Yue knew that she wouldn't like any of the details she was being offered. Reisen looked from first the lady of the mansion and then to Yue. Kaguya, now her master, gave her a meaningful glance. Yue licked her dry lips, resolutely determined to say nothing.

But her traitorous mouth answered for her in a whisper.

"Please."

* * *

"Whee!" The youthful looking vampire sailed through the halls, Nodoka following behind demurely. The librarian noticed the numerous numbers of fairies milling about, doing household chores but otherwise cowering in the presence of the younger Scarlet Devil.

"Umm... Flandre," Nodoka asked. "Where are we going?"

"To see sister!" Flandre turned back briefly to answer. "My sister will know where your friends went!"

"Sister...?" Nodoka blinked, uncomprehending.

"The owner of this mansion. The great Scarlet Devil!" Flandre answered, not losing stride at all. Nodoka could already tell she wasn't going to like this trip. She already knew Flandre was a vampire, thanks to firsthand experience, and now having to meet an older sister did not sound like fun.

"She's not going to eat me, is she?" Nodoka asked timidly.

"Hmm..." Flandre actually had to stop and think about that one. "No... she's a light drinker. Plus I'm stronger. She said so! If I didn't eat ya, I doubt she would. Though she might turn you into a maid..."

Nodoka strangely did not find comfort in those words, but figured it was enough cowering. She had survived up to this point, so what was surviving a bit longer? Nodoka simply swallowed any fears she had and followed the jolly vampire girl up a flight of stairs.

For the first time, Nodoka noted how... regal the place was. Unlike Flandre's more cozy room locked deep in the dungeon, this place looked a bit more akin to a European palace. She saw what appeared to be fey flying about, constantly trying to clean and organize the area. Most shot nervous glances at the young vampire and the librarian following her, but seeing as she was not wreaking havoc, they were content on going about their cleaning.

Flandre arrived at an extremely tall set of double doors. "My sister should be in here... I can feel her!"

"Okay," Nodoka nodded. She noticed Flandre reach for the door, then hesitate. Nodoka looked on in confusion, seeing the girl extend an ear instead of a hand. Walking closer, she found out why.

Past the doors, Nodoka could hear the sounds of an argument, though it sounded more like both sides were more amused and curious than angry. "...as I said, the Konoe brat is no longer here. Good riddance to that bitch, using that half crow to harm my perfect maid." The first voice sounded bold and articulate, if a bit in childlike tones.

"Hmph, you think I care about her? I only asked since she may have been the reason I showed up _here_." This second voice was one that she recognized. "It seems unlike the cheery brat I knew to play dirty, however. I'm wondering if _you_ had something to do with it."

"Eva-san?" Nodoka murmured quietly. "She's here too?"

"Easy for you to say. I had no hand in making that human so horribly rude," the first voice continued. "That halfling crow she kept fawning over had to keep saving her sorry butt when they first waltzed in here. Next thing I know cute-and-innocent is raging over the fact that her precious bodyguard is getting paranoid and 'mentally worn down.' I think _she's_ the one with the issues. I practically smelled it in her fate."

"Hah, I told that bird-brain not to overdo it like a certain teacher of ours, but it looks like she failed to listen. Doesn't solve why I'm here in this old dump, though."

"I can't believe Yukari expects me to associate and befriend trash like you. As soon as I'm done with _you_, I'll have a word with her."

"More like I'm going to have a word with this Yukari when _I'm_ done with _you_. You're not the only one lacking in a perfect and elegant servant. I want mine _back_."

"If you're associated with that Konoe woman, I believe you owe ME the life of my perfect servant. Say, _old friend_, you don't know the rules of spellcards, do you?"

"You'll forgive me if I hadn't played by rules like that in a couple of hundred years, have you? Even so, I'll just **tear you apart**."

"So eager to die..." There was a haunting laughter on the other side. "Hey, let's make it even more interesting!" the voice suddenly crowed, and without the help of either Flandre or Nodoka, the giant doors swung open with a force that would crush the average human. Nodoka barely evaded the swinging doors, jumping back beside Flandre. The girl merely blinked in confusion at Nodoka's reaction, the other door held in her hand with ridiculous ease.

"Oi, Flandre!" the new vampire called out, her pale and childish features contrasting with her fierce demeanor. Nodoka noted she looked fairly different from her sister, with her pale pink dress and pale blue hair.

"Oi, Miyazaki," Evangeline muttered, giving the librarian a stern stare.

The two vampires in the room chorused, leering at each other. "Let's play a game."

--

(Seraph: Everyone's getting a roughing up, but now we know where all our players are. Well, all except poor Chachamaru. Next episode: Epic Battle 1! Vampire vs. Vampire, nothing held back. Can the Scarlet Devil Mansion survive it? Can the world? Can Nodoka?

Ansem: And sorry guys, no chapter next week, there's AWA and I have massive catching up to do in a lot of areas. But please stick around!)


	8. Chapter 7

**When Light Descends to Madness**

**Chapter 7**

"_Let's play a game_."

Those were the words Nodoka heard from the two vampires standing in front of her. Of course, she found herself not liking those words one bit. "Wh-what kind of game?"

"Yay!" Flandre sung happily. "We get to play a game, we get to play a game!" She stopped, however, when she didn't get the details. Tilting her head in confusion, she asked, "What kind of game?"

"A game of spellcards, or whatever ruleset that is!" Evangeline bellowed. "Two on two!"

Nodoka panicked. "Awah?! Bu-bu-bu—"

"Yay, danmaku!" Flandre cheered. She immediately swooped by Nodoka's side. "I pick _her_ as my teammate!" If she noticed the angry faces that showed up from that choice, she did not care.

"Miyazaki is _my_ meat popsicle, toots," Evangeline snarled at the girl. "You side with your failure for a sister."

"Make me," Flandre stuck out her tongue at the icy vampire, but Nodoka felt something truly nasty lurking behind her words.

"Flandre, I'll let you have this Miyazaki girl if you help me teach this upstart a lesson," the elder Scarlet Devil sneered. This seemed to resonate with Flandre's thinking, so the younger sibling happily joined her side. "I will show her what it means to fear the name Remilia Scarlet!"

"More like double over in laughter!" Evangeline taunted. "Let me show you how awful your jokes are!"

"Surely you jest," Remilia Scarlet jibed back. She pointed a hand, fingernails gleaming, and began to draw a pattern in the air with scarlet colored magic. "To think you even had a chance to stand up to me."

A red mist exploded in front of Remilia, shimmering for a second before an incredible number of similarly colored shapes burst out of the mist. Nodoka only caught a glance of the projectiles, crystals a shade of red so bright they seemed to glow, before she warped out of the way. The crystals ripped through her afterimage and sliced it into ribbons of water that fell to the floor. Nodoka reappeared several feet away, out of the immediate line of fire.

She braced herself for another attack, only to find she wasn't being targeted. Flandre hovered in the air above the battle watching with glee, but otherwise doing nothing as if she was waiting for a signal. The full force of the Scarlet Devil's magic was pointed at Eva.

Instead of getting out of the way like Nodoka had, the dark mage had called up a wall of ice that was barely an inch thick. But to Remilia's anger, the red crystals bounced off its surface like sticks against a wall.

"Is that all you've got?" Eva shrugged. Remilia growled, but this did nothing to intimidate her. The dark mage just smiled innocently and said, **"Shatter and scatter."**

Doing just that, the wall of ice split into countless shards that twirled lazily for a second before they turned to point at Remilia, quivering in the air. "Pretty," Remilia said, and then flew forward in a blur.

The needles responded immediately, converging on her from all sides, but Remilia seemed find spaces between needles that hadn't been there before. Twirling and spinning through the packed needles, she laughed, "What a poor display when compared to my Perfect Maid."

Nodoka didn't think the display was poor at all, but she didn't comment. At this point, it was smarter to stay out of sight and out of mind for as long as possible.

"Sister, I'm getting bored," Flandre pouted from her perch in the air.

Clearing the last needle, Remilia flipped in the air to avoid a spike of ice that had thrust up from the ground beneath her. "She's right," Evangeline said. "This is boring. I still haven't moved yet, and my body is getting stiff. Give me something that'll make me move." A line of spikes erupted from the floor at her command, pushing Remilia back into the middle of the room.

"You impatient younglings, do I have to do everything?"

"For once, I can't call someone else on their age," Eva grinned and snapped a finger. A trio of spikes formed a pyramid around her flying foe with a loud screech. "And, I'd like to point out you're only a few years older than me."

"Ha, you counted? Then respect your elder, and I'd really love it if you'd stop damaging my beautiful floor." Remilia waved a hand negligently and the pyramid of ice evaporated with a hiss. Ghostly metal chains materialized around her, revolving around her with soft clinks. Though they ended in sharp, bladed tips, Nodoka couldn't tell where one began and one ended.

Remilia smiled, "But I know you'll ignore me, because that's your Fate."

"Still spouting that nonsense, old friend? Immortals have no fate."

"Sister…!" Flandre whined.

The Scarlet Devil gave a lenient sigh, and said, "Go play with your girl for now. Sister's still not warmed up. My _old friend_ isn't as vigorous as she was when I last met her."

"Oh, now you've _really_ made me mad," Eva laughed, her power growing ever stronger.

She said something else, but Nodoka didn't have time to pay attention, because Flandre had taken Remilia's command very literally. Diving towards her with her dreaded spear, Flandre giggled, "Yay, play time!"

Nodoka gulped and ducked as Flandre flew overhead. The deadly spear nearly clipped her head, but she had no doubt that a clip would be more than enough to send her home in a coffin. Scarier was the thought that she wasn't sure if being alive was such a good thing now with three blood-sucking vampires flying about.

"Whee!" Flandre yelled as she wheeled around for a second try at jousting. Except Nodoka had no spear..

"P-P-Please wait a second," Nodoka cried out to no avail. Flandre closed in for another charge. "Wait, time out!"

"Time out?"

To her surprise and immense relief, Flandre stopped mid-flight and waited with an expression of curiosity while she hovered in the air. Nodoka gulped again as the vampire's glowing red eyes fixated upon her with a childish intensity that was frightening and unnerving. Slowly, she asked, "Can't we play a less… dangerous game?"

"Dangerous? What's that?"

The question threw Nodoka off balance, but she recovered quickly. "Something… that will kill me?"

"Kill?"

"Dead?"

"Dead?"

Nodoka chose her words carefully. "When I'm dead," she explained word by word, "I can't play."

"Oh, why didn't you say so then?" Flandre smiled charmingly. Nodoka felt warmth flush through her body from her success, but that warmth quickly turned cold when Flandre pointed her spear at her and intoned cheerfully, "Danmaku it is!"

"Eep!" Nodoka yelped in fright at the wave of red that washed over vision. In the spray of scarlet bullets, everything was tinged red. Even as she ran for her life, she admired the effect it created. Suddenly, the red lights disappeared and the permeating smell of smoke and fire replaced it.

"Why aren't you playing?" Flandre sulked, feet touching the ground. "You chose this game!" She let out a flare of anger in the form of a rippling red flame that spread from her toes and around Nodoka until it circled the human. The crystals hanging from her wings began to glow with a bright white intensity. Flandre looked down. "Why won't anyone play with me…?"

Though Nodoka found Flandre's childish disappointment both moving and disturbing at the same time, she wisely decided to hold her peace on the subject. But there was no doubt that she had to do something.

Suddenly, the vampire's lifted her head and locked eyes with her. The force of the gaze nearly blew her off her feet, and the surge of rage that followed did bring her to her knees. Flandre's power sent the circle of fire roaring up like writhing snakes. Nodoka cringed from the nightmarish flames as they slowly turned in on her.

Do something! Do something now! she screamed at herself.

And then, she did.

"**Aut Aqua Aut Exitium**." A burst of magic energy burst from the point where she kept it tightly bound away. As if tethering ropes had broken, as if a tall dam had broken, the magic came rushing out, raw and almost uncontrollable. When she felt its strength, Flandre faltered; her rage was shaken, anticipation replacing it instead. The aura of magic was strong enough to create a multi-colored mist around the mage.

"**Stagnet,"** Nodoka whispered, and the waves of power from the wild magic subsided, but the magic hadn't disappeared. It still hung around her as mist. As if grabbing a handful of this mist, Nodoka moved a hand through the air. **"A mirror of crystal, a sword of water, a shield of ice… Toyotama-hime, Watatsumi-sama, Mizuchi-sama. Remember our contract and grant me thy blessings!"**

The mist glowed brightly and completely enveloped Nodoka. Shadows that could not exist danced within the mist in graceful lines that resolved into three distinct shapes. For a second, Flandre watched in rapture.

Then, she got bored and made her ring of fire collapse inward. However, when the fire touched the mist, it was immediately put out. "What?" the vampire pouted, but before she could complain anymore, a spear shot past her face. Her innate reflexes reacted with an involuntary flinch, which would have placed her head out of the way of the spear had it been aimed at her. Instead, it flew harmlessly past with an arm's length to spare before it degenerated back into water. Flandre swiveled around and examined the wet, distorted line before turning back to face Nodoka. "Now that's what I call playing!"

Nodoka gave her a weak smile. To her left hung a frozen half moon that shone an ethereal blue despite the red theme that surrounded it, while to her left floated a long, thing, and very flat cylinder of water four times the length of her arm. The water, despite the absence of a surface, flowed constantly in a circular pattern, first following the edge down as it tapered until the water reached the blade point, went around it, and then flowed back up in a cycle. Finally, a little circular mirror hung from her neck, much less grand than either the shield or the sword. Through this all, the cloak of mist remained, gathered around her like adoring little faeries that, unlike the ones in this world, would not attack her.

"Does this mean we can play now?" Flandre asked anxiously, bouncing up and down with energy.

The answer was never answered—or at least, not now—because a giant pillar of ice hit the ground between the two "playmates" with a horrid screeching and a violent shake of the floor. Nodoka almost toppled to the floor, but the mist around her cushioned her fall. Flandre was not so lucky and hit fell back onto her bottom with an undignified yelp.

Kind of suits her, Nodoka giggled to herself despite the danger of both the moment and the thought.

"Oops, sorry," Remilia voice rang out idly. From her seat atop a similar block of ice, she spoke amiably, almost as if she was speaking about the weather. "I almost crushed your friend."

"She's not my friend," Eva corrected, "just a subordinate." Nodoka's former classmate still stood in the same spot, shattered crystals and ice littering the ground around her like a debris field. Still, there was a sizable circle around Eva that was completely debris free.

Remilia floated horizontally, chin resting on folded hands. "So she's dispensable then?"

"Hey…"

"You catch on quickly," Eva said.

"Hey!"

"Just stay out of our hair and you won't get hurt," the Scarlet Devil advised her, the air around her growing the color of her title. Nodoka bristled at the vampire's dismissive tone, and would have said something had Flandre not beaten her to the punch.

"Didn't you say I could have… have…" the girl trailed off, eyes furrowed in concentration until she suddenly pointed at Nodoka and exclaimed, "Oh no!"

"W-What?" Nodoka stammered, aghast, expecting to find her doom bearing down on her.

"I forgot to ask you your name!"

There was a moment of silence in respect for Nodoka's shocked relief before she broke it by saying, "Miyazaki… Nodoka."

"So I call you Miyazaki?"

"No, Nodoka…"

Flandre shrugged. "Okay, Nodoka! Let's go back to playing! And sister?"

"Yes, Flandre?" Remilia sighed.

"Don't interfere."

Before Nodoka had the chance to puzzle out that particular comment, Flandre lunged forward with her wicked spear held in front as if in a joust. This time around, Nodoka did more than dodge. With a twist of her hand, her water sword parried the spear thrust. However, as it made contact, the water exploded into a cloud of steam as if boiled away by some sudden, immense heat. Still, it was enough to knock the spear off target enough for her massive ice shield to deflect its point instead of take it from the front, which Nodoka knew would have been a bad choice.

"Waaaah," Flandre gasped, knocked off balance. Nodoka took advantage of the situation and launched a stream of mist that solidified into spears of water, but even so, Flandre's reflexes were too inhuman for her to be done in by such a simple trick. She plunged her spear into the ground and swung around it like it was a pole, out of the way of the water spears. The air around her glowed with red sparks. But more menacing to Nodoka were the spears of red that hung in the air to point at her.

"Right back at you," the little troublemaker giggled, and Nodoka was forced to move quickly or be impaled on scarlet energy. The spears punched holes the size of a fist into the mist around Nodoka, but she was otherwise unhurt. As if skating on ice, Nodoka maneuvered around the lines of red magic that had suddenly spawned in a swirling pattern around her. Only the tips of her shoes touched the marble surface of the floor.

Time to turn the tables, Nodoka decided, focusing on the crystal mirror hanging from her neck. Immediately, words flowed into her mind, words of power and meaning that she had stored away for just this purpose. Even as she slashed away crackling fireballs with her reformed sword and parried Flandre's agile spear strikes with her shield, she formed the foundation of a spell with her mouth.

**"Above the earth: rain, sleet, hail. Below the earth: geyser, glacier, sea. Fall with calm, erupt with rage, and fill the realms of Susanoo, your lord."**

At that moment, Flandre's spear struck her shield and pierced it until only the shaft was left free of the ice. Flandre struggled to pull it out, but to no avail. A flash of bright blue light came into existence underneath the two girls. A giant magic circle decorated with neat letters and a symmetrical pattern appeared under their feet, overlaid with a complicated pattern of lines and swirls. Nodoka gave Flandre a smile, and yelled,"**Earthen Riptide!**"

A white ring rose up from the circle, hung around them for a tenth of a second, and then split to let a torrential flood blast out. As the water reached Nodoka, they split around her, but there was no such protection for Flandre. With a yelp of surprise, the wave enveloped her and pulled her under.

Nodoka stepped back until she was out of the magic circle, out of the water contained within the circle.

Slowly, the water ebbed, disappearing into thin air, leaving behind a sodden Flandre, the only evidence that the water had ever been there. "I'm sor—" Nodoka began to apologize, but a red mote floated across her vision, distracting her. At the same moment she saw Flandre's smile, the vampire snapped her fingers, and the world exploded in red.

It was a sensation of burning pain, and the next thing she knew she had her back on the floor. However, she was still conscious. Despite her loss, she was still awake... and alive.

"I win!" Flandre cheered. Happily, she scooped up Nodoka from the floor and flew over towards the edge of the room. Examining the fallen Nodoka, her face contorted to one of concern. "You're not dead, are you?" She poked her in the cheek lightly.

"No..." Nodoka said weakly.

"You're certainly fun to play with for a human! When you get better, we should play more! You'll get stronger, too!" Flandre said happily. Nodoka shivered at the thought, but she couldn't help but admire the girl's playfulness.

"Your 'meat popsicle' is out of commission, Evangeline," Remilia smirked arrogantly. "What will you do now?"

"I _told_ you... she was expendable," Evangeline shrugged, despite holding an equally arrogant grin. "But I'm more than enough to toast _you_." She summoned a row of ice spears. "Die." She swept a hand forward, and the spears of ice shot towards the elder vampire.

"You shouldn't telegraph such obvious and slow attacks!" Remilia reprimanded. The girl extended her wings, smiling devilishly before shooting forward, easily skirting past the icicles before forming her own attack. "Midnight—Dracula Cradle!" She took to the air and spun like a devilish top. With all her force, she crashed into Evangeline, forcing the blond vampire to block the blow as best as she could rather than attack.

"Finally!" Evangeline grinned, her eyes glowering with madness. "We can play for keeps!" She swiveled her hand up, and at once a swirl of ice arrows burst from her hand. The first two immediately swung around and crashed into Remilia. The girl nearly floated to the ground, landing almost too gently for that kind of attack.

More ice arrows shot towards her—but they hit thin air instead.

In seconds, Remilia was back in the action, easily and gracefully swirling past the assault. "I suppose that's not bad... still, you're way too slow!" She swung up a hand, and several beams of red energy shot toward the blond vampire. Evangeline glided sideways to evade the attack, but a red beam managed to pierce her side anyway.

Evangeline sank downwards... for all of five seconds. "Heh," She righted herself.

Slowly, she raised her right hand. Suddenly, a vague energy sword formed from her hand, and swept forward, attempting to slice Remilia in two. However, the elder vampire easily twirled about, evading her attack. A second slice still missed as Remilia moved upward.

"Two can play that game," Remilia bared her teeth. Drawing in her scarlet magic power, the girl bellowed, "Spear the Gungnir!" A powerful red spear formed. Twirling it deftly, she charged forward, meeting Evangeline's phantasmal sword with equal fervor. Both demons clashed repeatedly, twirling about in the air in a deadly, graceful dance.

"I don't think that's spellcard rules anymore..." Flandre observed. However, she easily shrugged this off. "Oh well, the fight was pretty much between them anyway."

"So why did they make us fight?" Nodoka asked.

"Courtesy, maybe."

Three superpowered vampires think it's courteous to pick a fight with a human?! Nodoka winced inwardly.

Evangeline suddenly flung her hands back. "Why not finish this? I'll tear you apart with one last attack."

"Fine by me, but you'll be the fool in pieces," Remilia countered. There was much sinister chuckling as both vampire girls hovered in the air. Nodoka could feel the turbulent chill of magical energy rushing towards them.

"Lic lac luc lilac..." Evangeline chanted. "Spirits of ice and darkness, gather unto me!"

"Scarlet Sign..." Remilia kept her words simple, instead, holding just one card, burning bright with power.

"Nuis Tempestas Obscura!"

"Scarlet Gensokyo!"

A combined blast of ice and darkness crashed into the ever-consuming red magic, fierce explosions rocking the entire house. The blast was so great Nodoka felt it necessary to put up a barrier, though Flandre did nothing but continue to stare in awe. Explosions continued to burst upon each other like a fireworks show.

With one final explosion, the room shrouded itself in smoke. When it cleared, Evangeline and Remilia stood at opposite ends, both somewhat exhausted.

"Feh, you're still not dead?!" Evangeline huffed.

"What a disappointment," Remilia remarked, her voice feigning irritation. "You're not dead either."

"It's obviously a waste of our time to fight each other like this now. We might as well have tea," Evangeline sat down.

"My Perfect Maid is, unfortunately not here," Remilia muttered. "Thanks to that Sakurazaki brat. And my other maids are incompetent at fixing good food."

"Then just have Miyazaki do it," Evangeline waved off her concern. "Oi. Miyazaki. Go fix us tea."

"What?" Nodoka blinked at the audacity of the vampires.

"You heard me, Miyazaki."

"...Why?" Nodoka still asked. "How am I supposed to know where the tea is?"

"Flandre, I know you haven't been out in a while, but you know where the tea is, don't you?" Remilia asked her sister.

"Yeah!" Flandre cheered. "I remember! I'll show her the way." With frightening speed, Flandre happily carted off Nodoka out of the room and downstairs, despite the young lady's protests.

"Subordinates are so easy to manipulate!" Evangeline remarked, and the vampires shared hearty laughter.

* * *

There only stood an uncomfortable silence as Yue stared at Kaguya while they both waited. The princess of the moon coolly sipped on tea, never letting up her gaze on the purple-haired girl.

This wait came to a stop when the massive doors opened once again, with Reisen returning. Following her was a maiden in a wheelchair, her silver hair short with two locks on the front, her face still showing elegance despite her weakness. Curiously enough, she wore a maid's headdress. A much taller silver-haired woman, pushing the wheelchair, peered curiously inside the room. She held herself much like a super-intelligent doctor would—but maybe Yue reached that conclusion due to the doctor's cap on her head. "Princess?" This taller lady said. "What is the meaning of calling us out here?"

"Ah, Eirin," Kaguya greeted the doctor. "We have a new guest here," She gestured towards Yue. "She lost a game of Go to me, so now she gets to stay here and drink tea with me. I might consider making her do tricks..."

Eirin looked somewhat amused by this. Yue already did not like this sensation.

The maid in the wheelchair, on the other hand, was not amused. Between her fingertips, she produced a silver knife, and, like lightning, threw it at Kaguya. However, the lunatic princess easily caught the knife in her right hand, with no ill effects. "Getting better," Kaguya smiled. "Eirin's a good doctor, isn't she? Nevertheless, you won't be leaving here until you can stab me right... between... here..." She slowly traced the area between her eyes.

Despite this failure though, the lady in the wheelchair simply returned that smile, though Yue detected an edge to it. "I will see Milady soon enough. When I'm fully recovered, you won't stop me." The woman took a glance at Yue. "She bears a strong resemblance to Lady Patchouli..."

"Who bears a strong resemblance to me?" The final person to walk into the room nearly drove Yue into a shock. She was looking at... herself, if a bit older, her hair thicker, and dressed in a nightgown. A crescent moon adorned her nightcap. Apparently this had to be Patchouli. Upon seeing Yue, though, Patchouli expressed more awe than shock. "A doppleganger, perhaps? She really does resemble me. So," She directed her voice at Yue. "Where do you come from?"

It took a moment for Yue to answer—being addressed directly for the first time since this began was nearly a shock, but she gathered her bearings. "I come from the outside world. I'm looking for information on an old friend of mine... Konoe Konoka."

The room grew dead silent. When she felt tension choking nearly everyone inside, especially the woman in the wheelchair, Yue realized her mistake. She opened her mouth to apologize when Kaguya proved to be faster, "See, I told you coming out here would be worth your while."

-

(Hey guys, our apologies... Seraph was in NaNo, and I myself got struck by heavy inspiration to rewrite Scheme!? (which is now completely rewritten.) I know this is sparse, but this is the last update you'll see for this story in 2008. Don't worry! This _will_ return! (As soon as I can find Seraph)

In the meantime, for those of you that followed Scheme!?, the next in the I Am Negima!? saga has been up for quite a bit. And for bonus points, go check my website link for additional author's notes!)


End file.
